


A Bottle of Stars

by the_protector_of_light



Series: The Power of Memories [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Adventure, Canon Divergence - Post-Xehanort (Kingdom Hearts), Family, Gen, OCs are children of canon characters, Temporary Character Death, and we throw in some angels for fun, repost of accidentally deleted work, searching for and finding people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 08:07:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 55,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13853559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_protector_of_light/pseuds/the_protector_of_light
Summary: What do you do when you find out that your entire world has been an illusion? Emi is faced with that question and a new quest as a Keyblade Wielder to find and free people who she had no idea were her parents. With help from a new friend she meets along the way, she has to not only save these people, but to save her best friend from a sinister fate as a puppet of a terrible madman seeking to bring back an old foe. (A story in "The Power of Memories" series. Events and characters from the other stories are mentioned but are not necessary to understand the story at hand.) (Last chapter is secret ending to 'And Maybe Light Will Prevail, another fanfic of mine.) (Posting all at once.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry to repost this, I accidentally deleted it and now decided that it's necessary if I ever decide to post more of this series. I hope you enjoy!

A Bottle of Stars

_What lies on the other side of the mirror? That is my question to you, my dear._

0o0o0

Chapter 1

                It wasn’t any old Tuesday. Emi was so ready for the last day of school, and it had come. Now, it was summer vacation. Emi was not about to waste a single minute of it.

                Sure she had gotten a D on her Biology final, but who needs Biology anyway? She wasn’t going to let it get her down. She had gotten into an argument with her teacher over it, but who cared? It didn’t matter in the end. She was home free!

                She slammed open the front door and dropped her heavy book bag on the floor with a thud before crossing the dingy grey living room and taking a running leap face first onto the plush blue couch. She had waited so long for summer vacation and without a doubt she needed it. She was exhausted after the past few weeks of study guides, essays, tests, and projects. They were tedious and tiring and she was thrilled that it was done and over with. Now she could relax.

                She scooted further onto the couch and raised her head. She settled her weight on her elbows as she looked out the window. The sky was orange with sunset like always and that made her frown. When you grow up with a sunset all of the time it gets boring no matter how beautiful it may be. Emi sighed and rolled off of the couch to the hardwood floor barely dodging the coffee table. The house smelled distinctly like the roses that were growing in the flowerpot in the corner; same as usual. Everything was the same. Nothing changed around there. Always the same sights and sounds. Twilight Town was boring no matter how far it might span.

                Everything but Jet. Maybe she should call him and see what he was up to. It would be fun to hang out with him, like always. They would be together all break; nothing but school could ever keep her and her best friend apart… but she had time to fill her empty stomach before she gave him a call. He might not have made it home yet anyway. Emi lived far closer to the school than Jet; though, she’d never been to his home. It lay beyond the break in the wall, through the woods in the old white mansion far from town.

                Jet was odd. He said strange things that were without a question fantasies. They were too farfetched to begin to believe, but he was her best friend anyway. It didn’t matter to her that he told her things that made no sense sometimes; she could brush them off. It didn’t matter that he was a bit crazy. He was the sweetest boy she had ever met and he would never hurt a fly. He was the perfect friend.

                It was a wonder that he was so nice given his outlook. He believed the world to be a dark place. He refused to believe that there was nothing beyond what was seen. He spoke of bizarre things like other worlds and monsters and evils all around. He spoke of legendary weapons known as Keyblades, though Emi had never heard the legends from anyone but him, so how legendary could they be? They were all figments of his imagination. She had never seen any sign otherwise.

                Jet told her that there was more to who she was than she believed; that she was destined to wield a Keyblade. She was sure he was joking. He was probably joking all of the time. Emi was normal after all, and so was Jet if you shoved his odd mannerisms to the side.

                Emi sat up. She groaned before standing. She stretched until her back popped. Her stomach growled. She chuckled. “I guess I should figure out something to eat. Peanut butter and jelly it is!”

                It wasn’t unusual for her parents to not have returned from work yet. She was sure they were running late like usual and they would be home in a few hours with their smiling and tired faces breaking through the monotony of the perpetual sunset over Twilight Town.

                On occasion, though, the thought of her parents bothered her. She wondered if she might be adopted; she shared no resemblance to them after all. Her hair was sky blue while theirs was brown. Her skin was fairer and she was of a more powerful build, though that was probably from the training that she did every day. Her parents on the other hand were stuck in stuffy corporate buildings every day of their lives. Regardless, she loved her parents very much. She didn’t see them as often as she liked, but that was part of life, right? She felt disconnected from them sometimes, but that was natural; she was getting older. Seventeen-year-olds begin to pull away.

                She was halfway to the kitchen when the phone rang. She flinched from the sudden sound and dashed over to pick up the receiver. She had no idea who it might be. Her mom or dad wouldn’t call while they were at work, and Jet didn’t usually call; he would always show up if he needed something. Long story short, she was nervous about what she would hear when she held the receiver to her ear. “Hello?”

                The voice on the other line was somehow familiar. _“Emi?”_ the woman asked cautiously. Emi had no idea why she recognized the voice or from where, but it felt like it was something important.

                “Yes? Who is this?”

                _“Emi, I need you to listen to me,”_ she pleaded. _“Don’t hang up.”_

“Who are you?” Emi demanded.

                _“Emi, it’s your mother. It’s Aqua.”_

                “My mom’s name is not Aqua. It’s Angela.” But the name made Emi grope around in search of an answer otherwise… The voice was so familiar.

                _“Emi, you have to listen to me!”_ Aqua sounded frightened. _“I escaped, but now I don’t know where I am… and I don’t know where Terra or Ventus are either.”_

                “So you called me?” Emi asked warily. “How did you even get this number?” Something about this was making even less sense than it should have. “I mean, if you aren’t here, if you’re somewhere else but you don’t know where, how did you get a phone? How would it connect?”

                _“Emi, you have to believe me!”_

                “No!” Emi protested. “My mom is Angela. She’s the one whom raised me. I don’t know anyone named Aqua, and I’m not going to listen to some stranger who just happens to know my name!”

                The other line crackled before deep laughter rang through. _“You are a clever girl, aren’t you?”_ a deep and silken voice taunted.

                “What? Who are you?”

                _“You’ll come to know me soon enough, young Emi.”_ He laughed once more. _“Surely you realized, however, that the woman named Angela is not truly your mother. Your mother is indeed named Aqua. It wouldn’t have thought you had fallen quite so deeply into this illusion.”_

                “Illusion?” Emi gaped. “You mean… Jet’s right?”

                _“Jet doesn’t tell lies often Emi. I would have thought you would have realized that by now.”_ She heard a sigh. _“Though if you want to find out the full truth, if you truly want to find out who you are, then it would serve you well to leave the illusion.”_

                “Leave Twilight Town?” She was trying to work her way through this jumble of new information. “Where would I go? There’s nothing else out there. And why should I leave?”

                _“Oh dear Emi… You are about to find out.”_

                With the words a few blurry images flashed through her mind, or rather, memories. She was young, very young. It was the first day of first grade and the people whom sent her off were not the parents she knew, and when her mind pulled farther into the past it no longer found the people she believed to have cared about her throughout her life. The woman was tall and fair, her hair the same shade of blue as Emi’s. The man was even taller, his hair dark brown and a bit tanner. She knew their names. “Aqua and Terra…” she whispered. “Mommy and… Daddy?”

                _“There we go,”_ the voice said. _“Now that you recall the truth don’t you want to know what happened?”_

                “What did you do to them?” Emi demanded. “Tell me what you did to them! Where are they?”

                _“Oh, don’t worry,”_ the man assured. _“They are safe, though not for long. I’m running out of patience, Emi.”_

“Who are you?” she yelled.

                _“My name is Origin,”_ he introduced. _“I’m sure we will meet soon enough.”_

                “Origin; where are they?” Emi’s voice was shaking. She was beyond the point of being confused.

                _“You will have to find them yourself; but know that they are not in this world nor have they ever been,”_ Origin said. _“You must go out and seek your own answers, Emi. I’m sure that you will succeed.”_

                The line clicked off. When she tried to set the phone back on the cradle she felt the weight in her hand change. She lifted it up. She knew this shape. Jet had drawn it before. “A… A Keyblade?”

                She shook her head. There was no time for consideration. She supposed that the idea of calling Jet for help was out of the question now. She would have to go and find him. He was surely at the mansion. It wouldn’t be hard.

                Emi turned and dashed out the door.

0o0o0

                She rushed through the town and to the market. The familiar storefronts garnered none of her attention. She had a set destination. There was a hole in the wall on the other side of the plaza, and through it was Jet’s house. She didn’t pause as she dashed through the opening.

                What she hadn’t expected as she walked into the thin stretch of trees were the strange creatures patrolling the area. They were sleek and grey, and where there should have been mouths there were zippers instead. They slunk around in jerky motions aimlessly until they seemed to sense her. They hurried to surround her. Emi had no idea what the creatures were or what she should do about them, but as one rushed towards her she held up her hands to protect herself. As she blocked the attack, the strange Keyblade from earlier appeared in her hand. As bizarre as it was, she didn’t spend too much time thinking about it. She had to act. She had to fight.

                These creatures would not have been too difficult to handle if they were on their own, but there were several of them and she had to spend as much time dodging their attacks as getting in her own strikes. Still, they weren’t that remarkable of fighters, so it wasn’t much of a fight. She was glad that Jet had trained with her so often… She had to wonder how much Jet knew. Surely he couldn’t have anticipated this. True, he was always talking about things not being like they seemed… so much for him just being wacko.

                These creatures were so strange. As she swung her sword at one, it disappeared in a burst of dust. It was gone without a trace, and the same happened with the rest of them as they were defeated one by one. She was uninjured from the skirmish. “I’m a badass!” she cheered. She twirled briefly to celebrate her victory before she resumed her sprint through the tree line to the mansion, dodging branches carefully as she went.

                She saw him before she even made it out of the forest; the slight built boy with black hair that hung below his jawline. He was dressed in his usual attire of black cargo pants, a white tee-shirt, and a black jacket. She skidded to a halt behind him. “Jet! You were right all along!”

                “Emi?” Jet whipped around. His blue eyes shifted nervously and refused to settle on her. That in its self wasn’t unusual. He often avoided eye contact. “What in the world are you talking about?”

                “You know,” she said with a nervous laugh, “how everything is an illusion, nothing is real, and I’m being lied to. That there is darkness out there and places to see far away.”

                “Oh?” he breathed. His eyes widened and if she wasn’t imagining things his face grew paler.

                “We have to leave here, Jet! There’s some guy named Origin out there and he’s holding my parents hostage!” Jet opened his mouth but she sped on. “And I mean my _real_ parents, not Angela and Timothy! Aqua and Terra, the heroes that you told me about, the ones who wielded the Keyblades!” She barely paused for a breath. “How did you know all this stuff anyway?”

                “What are you talking about?” His voice shook. “You know I’m just being paranoid when I talk about those things.”

                But his eyes told a different story. “Jet? Why are you lying to me?”

                “I’m not lying!” he insisted. “You know there’s nothing else out there, or at least nothing good. You can’t leave! Your parents; they’ll worry.”

                “They aren’t my real parents,” she argued. “They won’t worry about me.”

                “But you could get hurt!” he worried.

                “I’ll be fine,” she disagreed.

                His frown deepened and if Emi didn’t know better she would think he was about to cry; he looked so overwhelmed. “Don’t leave me here alone,” he whispered.

                “Jet? What are you talking about? You’re coming with me!” She smiled and went to grab his hand. He pulled it away. “Jet?”

                “I can’t, Emi. I can’t come with you this time.” He looked away. When he looked back his eyes were wide and panicked, his breathing harder and body tense. “Don’t leave! There’s nothing out there that’s any good! That Origin guy; he’s telling you lies!”

                “What the heck, Jet? You’re the one who always tells me I need to get out of here. If this place isn’t real, then we have to leave! Come on. I don’t want to go without you!” Her pulse was pounding loudly against her eardrums. She didn’t want to leave without her best friend, the person who had always been by her side.

                “Then don’t leave,” he mumbled. “I can’t go with you, Emi…”

                “Why not?” She was getting annoyed. Why wouldn’t he just listen?

                “I just can’t okay?” he shouted. That was something that Jet had never done. She was started and took a step back. “Origin’s trying to trick you! Please… Please stay…” he trailed off.

                She shook her head. “I can’t, Jet. I can’t stay here.” She wanted to force him to go with her, to make him stay by her side; but no matter what she said, she couldn’t.

                “Then go.” He looked away and started to turn around. “Go. Leave me here alone and don’t come back… It’s not like you could if you wanted to.” He stopped and looked back at her. He met her eyes with eyes full of sorrow. “It… it was nice to know you, Emi.” He turned back around and opened the gate to the mansion. He walked through it.

                “Jet! Don’t go!” She tried to rush after him but the massive black gate closed in her face. “Jet, please! Please come with me!” she called. But he was gone. She stood there for a moment before she felt the tears falling down her face. “Jet? What did you mean, ‘it was nice to know me’?”

                She heard a churning sound behind her. She turned around. There was an opening in thin air, a ring of black and purple energy swirling around a window into a new space. The room through it was somewhere she had never been: a stagnant grey room filled with computers. “I… I guess I’m on my own.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks and turned and walked to the opening. Where could this lead?

                She looked around. She looked back for Jet, but he wasn’t there. She wasn’t sure what was happening and she didn’t know if it was safe, but it was a place to start. She sighed and looked at the green area surrounding her, to the massive white house standing starkly in the distance beyond the looming black gate, to the forest, then back again. She crept forward nervously before stepping through the portal into the unknown.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

                Emi climbed into a strange room and heard the portal slurp closed behind her. Her mind was too busy trying to process what had happened to pay too much mind to her sudden surroundings.

                Why would Jet act like that? Jet had _always_ told her that things were more than they seemed on the surface… why would he have a sudden change of heart? Jet always told her to stay on her guard and that there was far more out there beyond the town that they called home. He had helped her train to stay safe. Why would he suddenly change his mind? Why would he lie to her?

                The Keyblade; maybe she should have told him about the sword that was now in her possession. Maybe that would have snapped some sense into him and proven to him that his ‘paranoia’ was reality. He had told her about them so many times. He had drawn pictures of them often since they were little. He had always been so odd, so wise… she hadn’t listened to him but he was right. What had changed his mind to differ?

                It was beside the point. She saw no way of returning from whence she came to fetch him, so she should try not to worry so much. It was difficult to say the least. Jet was special.

                She fidgeted for a moment before her hair fell into her face. She hated when that happened. She shoved it out of her eyes. It was a wonder she had never chopped it all off! The white bow held most of her blue locks from getting in the way, but her bangs—

                She paused. The bow. Jet had given her that bow when they went to the beach a few years before because she kept complaining about the very problem that crossed her mind now. _“Don’t cut your hair off; you’ll regret it,”_ he had said. _“Here.”_ He handed her the bow. _“This will help.”_

She had been skeptical at the time and she put it to the side with no intention of picking it up again… but soon she began wearing it. She never went another day without it since. She never told him how much the gift meant to her…

                But her bangs, that was a different story. Though… when she took a moment to think about it, it was one that Jet had given a solution to as well. She plunged her hand into the pocket of her khaki cargo pants and pulled out two silver hair clips. They were simple clips. The only decoration was a small star punched through the end of each. Jet had known she wouldn’t wear anything fancy. She hadn’t worn these anyway, but if she was going to be doing any fighting she couldn’t have her hair blocking her vision. She had to suck it up and wear the stupid things. She put them in her hair; they felt strange but her hair no longer fell into her face.

                She was left there alone to think more and more, and rather than finding a plan she couldn’t tug her mind away from Jet. She hadn’t even been gone for an hour. How could she miss him so much?

                But she knew. She had a feeling that she was fully aware of the meaning of his earlier words. _“It was nice to know you.”_ She was never going to see him again. While the portal being gone might not be concrete proof that she could never go back it was enough to make her stomach churn.

0o0o0

(Jet)

                Jet wasn’t surprised that Emi had already left by the time he turned back. When Emi set her mind on something she did it no matter what could happen. It didn’t matter that it was stupid and that this was exactly what Origin wanted. She would never listen to Jet if she had already settled on the option in her mind. He should have known that she wouldn’t stay. He knew her better than that.

                All of this time… How many years had it been since she came to this place? This fake Twilight Town that had always been his home; before she came he had always been alone. She fell for his illusions so easily it came as a shock that she changed her mind with only a few words from Origin. How could she leave this place that she had called her home for so long? It was a place that she insisted was the end of the universe. What had Origin done to change her mind?

                Emi had never believed Jet when he told her stories of faraway places. He had never been to these other worlds so he had no way to prove the validity of his tales. Emi was stubborn. She didn’t believe things with words alone. So what had Origin done? All of the truth that Jet had shared and all of the lies that he refused to tell meant nothing to her. Why was everything falling apart now, and why was he unhappy with it?

                Jet had always been here in the illusion. He wasn’t like Emi. He hadn’t been sent here late in the plan. He had been here since the plan came to be. He _was_ Origin’s Master plan. This Twilight Town was his beginning and it would be his end; and the end would come soon. Jet’s purpose had been fulfilled. Emi was off on her way to her doom.

                But Origin could never have known what Jet had done to prepare her for this day. It was true; Jet would protect Emi no matter what happened. Even if he wasn’t there, he would protect her through the skills he taught her. He had refused to do what he was ‘supposed’ to do from the very beginning. He would never lead her to her end. He wouldn’t allow that. Not even Origin could force him to do it when he refused… but apparently it hadn’t been enough.

                Now Emi was gone. Jet was left here alone with no purpose. He remained in this illusion that was incomplete without Emi. Without Emi there, the other illusions faded away. They were made for her, not him. With her gone this stagnant town fell empty once more, the illusions that Emi needed gone for good. Jet had never had the privilege of fake friends or a happy naïve world. Emi was his happiness and now she was gone. She would never return.

                “Why did she have to leave me?” he wailed since he knew no one was listening. He wasn’t supposed to be real. He was never meant to exist… but Emi always made him feel like he did. She made him believe, if only for a moment, that he was supposed to be in this plane of reality, and now that he stood here alone he realized that he had already grown lonely and would always be forever more. Origin wouldn’t have the kindness to release him from this prison he was forced to create. Origin had no sympathy, not even a memory of such.

                And Jet… Jet wasn’t even a memory. He was nothing at all.

                “You know,” Origin’s voice interrupted the silence from behind. Jet whipped around to face him. “I could allow you to leave if I chose to do so.

                “Why would you?” Jet snapped. “I know that I only exist here. I’m not even supposed to be _here!_ I can never exist anywhere else!”

                “Oh, but you’re wrong,” Origin smoothed. “I would let you leave if you agreed to help me.”

                “And why would I agree to help you?” Jet wondered.

                “You want to see Emi again, don’t you?”

                Jet stared at him, his eyes focusing on Origin’s golden ones. The man’s white hair was blowing in the imaginary wind, his eyes narrowed and a smirk painted on his features. Jet wanted nothing to do with this man, he would never help him, and yet he heard the words from his mouth, “What do you want from me?”

                Origin’s smile widened. “All I need you to do is stop Emi from finding Aqua and Terra. It should be simple.”

                “What?” Jet was confused. “Isn’t that what you sent her out to do?”

                “I told her such to get her to leave here. I have my reasons and I have no reason to explain them to someone like you.” The man shook his head. “You will go find her and halt her progress.”

                “Why in the world would I do that?” Jet snarled. “You’ll hurt her!”

                Origin frowned. “I wanted to make you believe that you had a choice in the matter, but it seems that is simply not possible.” Jet felt his muscles stiffen and move of their own accord. He fought against the pressure but to no avail. “You are only a dream, after all. You are my puppet and you always have been. It’s high time I put that to use.”

                “No…” Jet managed through clenched teeth, but he was unable to stop going in the direction he was pressured through a portal that appeared before him.

0o0o0

(Emi)

                “Where am I, anyway?” Emi asked the empty space around her as she proceeded down a long silver hallway. There were no windows to bring light into the stuffy hall and the lights on the ceiling were sparse. She couldn’t tell where she was and the room with computers had been a bust. She had tried all of them. None of them worked.

                She crossed her arms over her head as she walked. She didn’t feel like she was in danger here, so why not relax? The hallway was blank and boring. She had expected adventure to be a bit more entertaining. “What am I supposed to do now?” she wondered. Her arms dropped to her sides. Where was she and how was she supposed to get out of this dank and dreary place? She wanted to get out of here. Right now! She stomped her foot and came to a halt.

                “Whoa!” she gasped as the tile beneath her foot pushed down under the pressure of her stomp. A doorway opened to her right where nothing had been before and through it she saw something very strange.

                She headed into the peculiar room, looking around cautiously as she did so. “Hello?” she called. There was no response, though she hadn’t truly expected one. It was a matter of principle to check. “Is anybody here?”

                She walked across the small room to the object that had drawn her attention in the first place. It was a pod of sorts. It looked almost like an unblossomed flower bud. It appeared that the glass had once been transparent on this curious machine but it was clouded over. The cobwebs and dust in the room gave her the feeling that no one had been here for quite some time.

                She walked closer and put her hand up to the surface. The material clouding the glass was only dust, as she found when she pulled her hand back. She looked at where her hand had been. “I wonder…” she mused. She put her hand against the glass once again and with a swipe of her hand she wiped some of the dust away. She coughed from the burst of dust that was sent into the air by the action but when the dust settled she screamed and jumped backwards. Someone was in there.

                Should she help them? Should she be afraid that there was a good reason that this person had been trapped inside this strange device and run away? Or should she try to find out how to get them out?

                She cautiously crossed the room and brushed more debris off of the pod to get a better look. “What in the world…?” she puzzled. “Who are you?” She looked them over. It was a man with shoulder length, red spiked hair. He wore dark clothing, though through the glass she couldn’t identify what exact items or color. She kept brushing the dirt away. “Why are you in there?” she asked though she knew there was no way that she would get an answer from the dormant person. Were they alive? Or had she run across some dead man from a horror film?

                How would she get him out anyway? There was nothing in the room…

                She paused as she finished cleaning off the machine. There was a button on the bottom with a red light next to it. Could the red blinking light be the way to release this person? She looked more closely inside. From further examination she concluded he was breathing. Should she hit the button? Or should she use common sense?

                She hit the red button.

                She leapt back as she saw the hatch begin to open like one leaf of the flower bud slowly opening outward. What was going on? Steam was released and as she watched, the man slowly opened his eyes.

                Once they were opened he looked around frantically. “Huh? Where am I?” he asked, but Emi could tell he wasn’t seeing her.

                “Hell if I know,” Emi answered anyway.

                He jumped at the voice and quickly turned to face her. His eyes widened. “Aqua?” he asked in confusion. She shook her head. “Then who are you?”

                “I’m Emi,” she introduced herself, putting her hand to her chest as she spoke. “But I could ask you the same question. Who are you, strange spiky man?”

                He looked like he’d seen a ghost. He shook his head like he was seeing things. He looked worried that he wasn’t. “Me?” he finally asked. Emi nodded. “The name’s Lea, got it memorized?”

                “Um, sure…” She looked him over. “Lea. I’ve got it memorized…”

                He rubbed his temples and looked around the grey room. “I know that you’re not the one who put me here. That was Origin.”

                “Origin?” she demanded. “That weird phone-voice-guy?”

                He looked at her quizzically. “Phone-voice-guy?”

                “Yeah! He sounded all cryptic and was like ‘you’ll have to find out on your own’,” she tried to imitate the voice. “He said that I’m ‘clever.’”

                Lea stared blankly at her for a moment before laughing. “But ‘phone-voice-guy?’”

                “Well…! He called me on the phone,” she explained while waving her hands wildly around, “so I only know his voice and that he’s a guy named Origin!”

                Lea stopped laughing. “What did he say to you? Is that why you’re here?”

                Emi slowly nodded. “Yes. He said that he captured my parents,” she began, “though it was weird. I didn’t know that these people even existed until he sent images through my brain. I was living in some kind of illusion! Apparently I’ve been there for years!”

                “What?”

                “I know, right?” She took a deep breath before increasing her talking speed. “I thought I had different parents named Angela and Timothy but when I think about it, I’m not sure I ever actually saw them…” She shook her head. “But I digress. Apparently my parents are Aqua and Terra.” Lea’s face fell. Perhaps they had been friends and now he knew they were missing? Regardless, “I was in some fake Twilight Town, and my friend Jet has been trying to tell me that things weren’t what they’ve seemed all along. I didn’t listen to him… I thought he was crazy…” she trailed off.

                “So you’re a bit freaked out right now,” Lea noted. “Relax; things will be okay.”

                “It’s just…” She closed her eyes. “I left Jet behind. He told me all of these things; about the worlds outside, about the Keyblade, about the heartless. I didn’t listen to him. I should have listened.” She shook her head. “And now he refused to come with me. He wouldn’t come through the portal… He turned around and walked the other way.”

                “He knew you were stuck in the illusion and he didn’t want to leave while he had the chance?” Lea puzzled.

                “No,” Emi explained. “He said he couldn’t, whatever that meant.”

                Lea looked perplexed but he didn’t say anything on the matter. He shook his head. “Anyway; how did you get here? And where is _here?”_

                “Well, I came through a portal,” she rehashed, “but I don’t know where we are.”

                He looked around. “This almost looks like the basement of the mansion in Twilight Town.”

                “You mean there’s a real Twilight Town?” she asked.

                “Yes.” He paused. “By the way, how long has it been? I heard that Aqua had a kid, but I wouldn’t think you’d be this old.” His grin was sheepish and seemed to hide something.

                “Well, I’m seventeen, but that’s not what you asked. You might know based on my age though.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how long you’ve been in here.”

                His eyes widened. “I’d say it has been a _very_ long time.”

                Emi shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you, Lea. I’m honestly too busy working through what’s real and what’s not, so I can’t help you figure out things that I don’t understand.” He nodded. She sighed and looked around the empty room. What direction would they need to go anyway? This basement was a non-descript maze. There wasn’t any light other than the flickering florescent bars overhead to give any hint. Their buzzing was more annoying and distracting than the lights were helpful.

                “You said that you have a Keyblade,” Lea interrupted her thoughts.

                “I didn’t say that. I said that Jet had talked about them,” she pointed out. “However, I do have a Keyblade as of today.” She summoned it. Her weapon was blue, and the head had a crescent shape. What runes adorned the sides, but the weapon was robust and not delicate in the least. She hadn’t taken time to examine it before, but now she observed that the sword was on the heavy side. She had no trouble holding it. She had done plenty of training to make her muscles stronger. “And I guess it’s pretty cool,” she said with a smile.

                Lea conjured his own Keyblade. It was like a flame and the hilt was a strange spiky circle. “These things _are_ cool,” he agreed with a grin. “I was amazed when I managed to get mine.”

                “Ew, yours is orange.” She stuck out her tongue.

                “Hey, what’s wrong with orange?” he demanded.

                “The sunset; it’s so orange, and it’s there all of the time. It never changes,” she explained.

                “Oh.”

                “Funny story, though; how I got my Keyblade, I mean,” she began. “I went to hang up the phone from talking to Origin. The headset transformed into a Keyblade! It’s a wonder that I don’t have a phone-shaped sword.” Lea laughed. “Funny, right?” She joined in. “How’d you get yours?”

                “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you another time.” Lea looked around. “Let’s try to get out of here for now.”

                “And how do you suppose we do that?” Emi asked. “I came into this basement through a portal and it’s gone. I don’t know what way is out. There aren’t any clues as to where we are or how you got here.”

                “Well, that’s the thing,” Lea began. “This looks like the basement of the mansion in Twilight Town. That would make sense; the last place I remember being is the clock tower.” He put his hand on his chin in thought. “I remember going there in search of Origin, and I think I remember finding him. When I went to fight him, he…” His eyes widened. “He made Roxas and Xion attack me! That’s why I couldn’t fight back. I could never hurt them again.”

                “Who are Roxas and Xion?” Emi wondered.

                Lea frowned. “I’m sure the ones I fought were an illusion created by Origin. That’s the only thing that would make sense.” She looked at him expectantly. “Roxas and Xion were my friends. They… they died years before Origin showed up. I knew I shouldn’t have believed it, but…”

                “You thought there was a chance,” Emi acknowledged. “I understand. I don’t think I’d be able to fight anyone that looked like Jet.”

                “I just couldn’t hurt them! I knew they wouldn’t attack me unless…” Lea looked down. “I knew better. It was my own fault that this happened. It’s my fault I got captured.”

                “Hey, it’s okay,” Emi soothed. “Don’t worry about it. It happened. There’s nothing you can do to change it. Now you’re safe and out of that stupid pod thing. Now you have a chance to find Origin and set things right!”

                Lea looked skeptical. “How can you say that? You don’t know me.”

                “Well…” Emi shrugged. “You seem nice enough, and unlike me, you have some idea of what’s going on. If we stick together, we can get through this!”

                “I can’t exactly leave a kid like you to set out on your own,” Lea mock complained. “You’ll wander off a cliff or something.”

                “Hey! I know how to take care of myself!” she argued.

                “Sure, sure.”

                “That’s not to say that I wouldn’t appreciate your help,” Emi continued. Her mind was wandering. What else would she do anyway? She had to trust Lea.

                “Say,” she began. “I take it you know my parents.”

                Lea nodded but his eyes looked pained. “Yeah. I know them.”

                Emi paused at his expression. “But you don’t know what happened to them,” she resigned. “That’s just fantastic,” she said sarcastically.

                Lea sighed. “Hey, maybe something happened to them similar to what happened to me. I’m sure they’re okay somewhere.” Lea nodded. “We’ll find them.”

                Emi was skeptical, but she had to agree. She didn’t know if Lea was right or if they could even be found, but now that Origin had placed the thought in her head she couldn’t help but feel the need to press on. She realized Origin had started this. For some reason, Origin wanted her to go on out on this journey. Perhaps she would be wiser to not take this path… but what else could she do? If Origin hadn’t called her on the phone she never would have believed she was in an illusion. She would still be in the fake Twilight Town living her days in an imaginary Utopia. That wasn’t what she wanted, right? Maybe she could make sure Origin’s direction worked out for the better.

                She shook her head. “I don’t know why Origin sent me here. I’m sure he made the portal, but why _here?_ ” She sighed.

                “The guy’s not stupid,” Lea said. “He must have wanted you to find me.”

                “But what did he intend to happen? I know he said I should go out and look for my parents, but why should I do what he says?” Emi waved her hands around in exasperation. “The guy’s evil if shoving people into pods and illusions of towns are any confirmation.”

                “You’re right. He’s bad news,” Lea agreed. “I don’t know what he’s planning, but I’m pretty sure he brought back the heartless and nobodies. I don’t know why.” He sighed. “I went out on my own trying to figure it out to no avail. He’s a freak and he’s attuned to the darkness. He reminds me of the guy who was my boss when I was a nobody.”

                “Wait, what’s a nobody?” Emi asked. “And what do you mean by ‘you were one?’”

                Lea chuckled. “Nobodies are what remains once someone is made into a heartless,” Lea explained. He saw the look on her face. “I see that you don’t even know what that means.”

                “I know what a heartless is… in theory.” Emi shrugged. “Jet told me that they’re creatures of darkness without hearts. They go out into the worlds to release hearts and create more heartless.”

                “Huh, you do know a bit, huh? I wonder how ‘Jet’ knew about them,” Lea proposed.

                “Jet knows a lot of things,” she said. “He told me about all sorts of things; the Keyblades, the heartless, other worlds; he told me that there was evil out there beyond the heartless and that the heartless don’t have enough consciousness to be evil on their own and must be controlled.” She frowned. “He helped me train; he told me I’d need to be able to fight when I left. He told me that he wanted to stay safe.” She looked down. “And now I don’t think I’ll ever see him again. He’s stuck in that illusion.”

                “Hey, we can get him out!” Lea attempted to cheer her up. “Don’t worry about it. Illusions are temporary. You left, didn’t you?”

                “But he said he couldn’t leave. He wanted me to stay with him.” She closed her eyes. Poor Jet. She had left him all alone there. “He said… he said that ‘it was nice to know you.’ Like he’d never see me again.”

                Jet. She’d never spend another day with him. There would be no more comfortable afternoons watching the stupid sunset that never changed. There would be no more sparring, no more basketball, no throwing rocks into the ocean at the beach. It was gone. She had left him behind when his eyes begged her to stay.

                “Oh,” Lea said. “I, um…” He looked away.

                She took a deep breath. “It’s fine.” She tried to smile. “I’m out of the illusion now; it’s for the best, right?”

                “Right!” Lea agreed.

                She sighed. “Now then; how were you a nobody?”

                “I was made into one a long time ago,” Lea explained. “The nobody that was left behind had a physical form much like the one I had when I was human. I was still conscious of my situation and I became part of a group known as ‘Organization XIII’.”

                “An Organization made up of people without hearts?”

                “The goal was said to be to gather hearts to create ‘Kingdom Hearts’ so that we could regain our own.” He frowned.

                “That’s terrible!” Emi exclaimed. “How could you do that?”

                “I was a nobody,” Lea explained. “I had no emotions; well, at least I had no remorse or guilt. I thought I would get my heart back and it would have all been worth it.” He sighed. “To an extent, we lost our sense of our past selves. We got new names and everything. I was ‘Axel.’”

                “’Axel’…” She looked at him skeptically. “I take it you eventually did get your heart back, since you said that you ‘were’ a nobody rather than you ‘are’ one. Please tell me that it wasn’t through that mission.”

                “No! It wasn’t. Don’t get the wrong idea!” Lea held his hands out in front of him defensively. “I was destroyed; I thought I was erased, but I eventually woke up as a human. It turned out we had our hearts all along. They were simply dormant.”

                “I still don’t know if I should trust someone who even thought about doing that,” Emi worried.

                “I was a different person,” Lea affirmed. “What did you say back there about being able to set things right?”

                Emi rolled her eyes. “I didn’t know about the Organization thing. It was different.” But she thought about it. Once again, what choice did she have other than to trust him? He knew more than she did. She knew nothing outside of her illusion… This might even all be ‘normal’. This ‘Lea’; she had surely been destined to find him. He would help her.

                And maybe, just maybe, her mission could be different than whatever Origin intended. “Fine,” she said. “I trust you. You said it was a long time ago. People change.”

                Lea looked relieved. “Right,” he said. “Let’s move on from it.”

                “Back to your original point,” she redirected the conversation. “You said that Origin reminded you of your old boss.”

                “Right,” Lea said. “Xemnas; that was his name. He was connected to an even longer story; someone known as Xehanort.”

                “So before we get to ‘who is Xehanort,’” she began, “how does Origin remind you of Xemnas?”

                “Can we walk while we talk?” Lea requested. “I’d rather not spend too much more time in this creepy basement.”

 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

0o0o0

(Emi)

                “Xemnas,” Lea began as they walked. “Origin reminds me of him. Origin’s so goal driven that it’s nuts! I’m not sure he even realizes what the goal really is; I certainly don’t; but I can tell that there’s more to it than meets the eye.”

                “Such as?”

                “Xemnas’s goal was to form ‘Kingdom Hearts,’ but his reasoning wasn’t to get back his own heart.” Lea was walking too quickly. Emi was having trouble keeping up. He was very tall and almost leaving her behind.

                Lea continued, “His goal was to bring back a man named Xehanort.” He shook his head. “I wonder if Origin’s goal could be something like that. I just can’t figure out what might be driving him. Besides; he even resembles Xemnas physically. Origin is flamboyant, arrogant, showy, and for lack of a better term, mean.” Lea almost flinched at each word leaving Emi to wonder what thoughts lay below the surface. “In the end, it’s almost like they’re clones,” he finished.

                “Clones.” Emi paused in thought. “Hey, what if Origin _is_ Xemnas’s clone?”

                Lea stopped in his tracks. “Do what now?”

                Emi took advantage of the time to catch up. “What if Origin is a copy of this ‘Xemnas’ of which you speak.” The wheels were turning in Emi’s mind now. “He’s obsessed with memories, and you said he resembles Xemnas. What if they’re the same?”

                Lea stared at her for a moment. “No. Surely not.”

                “I’m not saying I’m right,” Emi admitted.

                “And I’m not saying you’re wrong.” Lea furrowed his brow. “Maybe Yen Sid was right; maybe these new heartless are just memories of the past, and if so, maybe…”

                “Maybe Origin is as well,” Emi concluded. “Though, I’m not sure what that means.”

                “It makes sense,” Lea continued. “They are so alike it’s freaky, and if they are close, maybe his goal is the same.”

                “Maybe his goal is to bring back Xehanort?” Emi asked.

                “Yeah.” Lea absentmindedly resumed walking and they finally came across a stair case. They started up it.

                Emi’s mind wandered as she climbed the winding metal staircase. What were the implications if this were true? And what could they do with this new information. “So…” she began, “who is Xehanort?”

                “Xehanort was the definition of evil,” Lea stated. “He was a man who sook power above all else. He wanted the power of the force that I’ve mentioned, ‘Kingdom Hearts’, to himself, and in order to do this, he tried to start a ‘Keyblade War’ to ruin the lives of millions. All out of curiosity.”

                They stepped into a new room. This one was pure white, even the vase and flowers on the table. One the walls were crude crayon drawings held on with tape. The room was covered in several inches of dust. It was obvious that no one had been here for a very long time.

                “We’re in the mansion alright,” Lea noted. “I’d know this place any day.”

                Emi looked around the room. It had an eerie aura of peace and tranquility. Silence rang in her ears. When she looked out the window she knew Lea must be right. “This is Twilight Town?” she wondered. “At least, it looks like the one I know.”

                “Yeah,” Lea said. “This is it. I wonder if the clock tower’s still there.”

                “Surely it is. I mean, massive buildings don’t disappear overnight,” Emi pointed out. “I wonder if it looks the same as the one I remember.”

                “It hasn’t been ‘overnight’ as you put it,” Lea disagreed. “If you’re the age you are, it has been at least fifteen years.”

                “Yikes!” Emi gulped. “How are you alive?”

                “I’m not sure; it has to have been that pod.” Lea shrugged. “We should keep moving.”

                Emi nodded. “You’re right. No time like the present… though I don’t know where we’re going.”

                “Didn’t you want to look for your parents?” Lea asked.

                Emi paused. Did she? “I guess,” she decided. “I’m not sure.”

                Lea sighed. “Well, _I_ want to find the other Keyblade Masters. I need to make sure they’re alright. I need to find out what’s happened in the past fifteen years.” He looked at her. “Are you coming with me?”

                She stared at him for a moment. “I don’t know what else I’d do,” she admitted. She looked away. Did she really want to find her parents? She hadn’t known to look until Origin put the thought in her head. Was that what she really wanted? Or… did she want nothing more than to go back to Jet?

                “Then come on!” Lea said and started walking.

0o0o0

                “This place is creepy,” Emi noted as they walked down the stairs and into the great room of the large house. She didn’t like it one bit. The layers of dust covering everything were disgusting. She wanted to take a broom to the place and she didn’t even like to clean. She wanted to get out of the dank and musty air of the building and out into what would hopefully be fresher air outside.

                “I’ve never found it pleasant,” Lea agreed, “but it’s even worse now. It wasn’t _this_ dirty; it was already bad. Now I feel like I could fall through the floorboards.” He hurried towards the door.

                As they neared the opening, a group of strange creatures slinked into the scene before them. “Dusks!” Lea yelled.

                “What are these?” Emi worried.

                “They’re a type of nobody,” Lea replied and ran in for an attack.

                “But I thought you said nobodies were like people!” She summoned her Keyblade and charged towards one of them.

                “It’s a long story; I’ll explain it later!” Lea jumped out of the way of an oncoming attack.

                Dust was thrown in the air with each movement that the Keyblade Wielders and the enemies made. It was becoming a smokescreen that blocked their vision and clogged their throats and Emi was getting beyond frustrated. “Oh, come on!” she protested as she barely dodged an attack and got in one of her own. “This sucks! Why are they so fast? This dust is slippery!”

                “Stop complaining and fight!” Lea ordered. “Surely I don’t have to handle everything around here, do I?”

                Emi cartwheeled across the room and defeated the last enemy. The dust finally began to settle and she was disgusted by the fact that she could see the trails where they had skidded through the filth. “What was that about me not doing anything?” She raised an eyebrow as she walked over to Lea. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?” She was only halfway worried. Part of her didn’t really care and part of her was mocking him.

                “Of course I’m fine! What do you take me for?” Lea coughed a few times to get dust out of his lungs. “That would have gone faster if I could have used my fire, but it would have spread with the dust and I didn’t want to burn this place down with us in it.”

                “It’s not a contest.” Emi rolled her eyes. “But maybe we should take this as a warning to be more cautious as we proceed.”

                “We should be fine once we make it to the town,” Lea assured. “At least, in the past enemies didn’t attack within its boundaries.”

                The doors creaked open with a gentle push. The sunlight shone far more brightly than Emi had expected into her eyes. “Yeah, but what about the meantime?” Emi asked as she walked out into the open. She looked around at the strange surroundings.  Lea followed behind her. “I mean what if there’s something waiting for us in the forest?”

                “You’re being paranoid; Twilight Town is safe,” Lea insisted.

                “How would you know?” Emi snapped. “You’ve been gone for fifteen years. You said it yourself! What if things have changed?”

                Lea paused. He knew she was right. “I hope they haven’t.” He sounded worried and he looked down. “Twilight Town has always been safe. It’s a break from the evil and darkness that fills the worlds.”

                “About that,” she changed the subject. She felt bad for being so harsh. She didn’t want to see him so down, especially when it was her fault. “You say worlds in the plural sense. How many worlds are there?” She studied his face. He looked tired and weary like the weight that had been off of his shoulders during his stasis was suddenly thrown right back on them.

                Lea laughed in a way that tried to appear relaxed and happy, but Emi could see the fear and exhaustion it masked. “Countless. There are dozens of worlds, maybe even hundreds, or more!” Lea sighed. “I’ve been to so many and I know that I haven’t even skimmed the surface. You’re in for a whole new outlook now that you know about all of this.”

                “I’ll admit, I did think I was alone. I never once believed Jet when he talked about other worlds. I thought we were alone in our little Twilight Town, and now I know that even the world that I knew was only an illusion.” She paused. “I wonder how different things are out here. I wonder how much of a culture shock this will be.”

                “It’s hard to say,” Lea noted. “I don’t know how accurate that illusion was.”

                Emi opened the heavy metal gate. Her hand brushed against the worn metal and caught on the rough edges of peeling paint. This was so familiar. She had experienced details like this before. “I don’t think that things could be too different,” she decided. “But I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. I’ll just have to keep you around to tell me what’s real and what’s not.”

                “Hey! What do you mean, ‘keep me around’?” Lea snapped.

                “I was joking, you goofball,” she promised. “Lighten up.”

                Lea shook his head. “Kids,” he complained.

                “I’m not really a kid, you know,” she pointed out. “I’ll admit that I’m young, but I’m not a child.”

                “I know,” Lea admitted, “and for that I’m thankful. Kids can be a force to be reckoned with, but it’s nice to have a competent companion.”

                Emi shrugged. “I have a feeling you’re referring to something, but I won’t ask, at least not right now. I’ve bugged you with way too many questions for one day. I’m sure I’m driving you nuts.”

                Lea chuckled and his expression was distant. “I’ve been asked more.”

                “Still.” Emi fell silent as they passed through the gates; but it wasn’t for long. “Hey Lea; how are we going to get out of here? I mean, my parents and the other Keyblade Masters aren’t here in Twilight Town, right?”

                “I doubt it,” Lea agreed. “We have to leave.”

                “How do we do that?” Emi wondered. “How do we get to other worlds?”

                “There was a ship. It was at the top of the clock tower.” Lea looked off into the distance for a sign of the aforementioned building; but the trees were too thick.

                “A ship?” Emi puzzled. “What kind of ship?”

                “A stupid looking ship known as a gummi ship,” Lea elaborated. “It’s a space ship of sorts. It honestly looks like it would fall out of the sky, but somehow the stupid thing flies.”

                “Huh. Well… I guess we go to the clock tower,” Emi suggested.

                “Yeah. Let’s go.” Lea led the way through the forest and into the town.

                “What in the world?” Emi marveled as she walked into the busy town beyond the wall. There were people everywhere; the shops were lit up and full of customers. The market was busy and bustling and noisy. “How are there so many people?”

                “This? This is nothing,” Lea said. “There aren’t very many people out today. Twilight Town is one of the larger worlds.”

                He was as concerned at Emi was excited. He noted the dreary and worn out brick pathways, the deteriorating buildings and wind-worn roofs. He was seeing the world he had expected in disarray.

                Emi on the other hand was seeing new and exciting things! Yes, the buildings were far more worn than the ones she knew. The bricks weren’t pristine, filled with cracks and divots. The sunset was clouded over with cotton-candy clouds. The lights were jarring and the sounds of the crowds were almost too much to bear, but the noises and smells were new and different and worth it. “Is this what real worlds are like?” she breathed.

                Lea looked over. “Yeah,” he said, though he was distracted. “This is what real worlds are like.”

                Emi slowly spun in a circle to take in the sights. “I’ve never seen so many people! And the sky; it’s cloudy!” She took a deep breath and the air was not as pure and beautiful as she was used to. It was new, it was strange, and it was interesting! Emi was giddy and if it weren’t for Lea saying something she would have kept up her excitement.

                But her attention was redirected. “Hey!” Lea called. “Let’s get going. The clock tower’s this way. The sooner we leave the better.”

                “I know where the clock tower is,” Emi cheered. Her delight knew no bounds… but she reluctantly stopped staring at the sky in wonder and caught up with her companion. “You’re right. We should go…” She looked at the scenery once more. “I can’t wait to see what else is out there!”

                Lea shook his head. “Why am I stuck with this kid?” he muttered; but he was smiling fondly. Emi didn’t notice.

0o0o0

                “The stairs are different,” Emi noted as she dashed to the tower and waited for Lea. “And the glass is different. Everything is just… different! I don’t know any other way to describe it!”

                Lea sighed. “Can you calm down? People are going to start staring.”

                “Oh, please.” Emi rolled her eyes. “No one’s staring. Nobody’s even looking our direction. We’re fine.” She kept his words in mind regardless as she proceeded through the entryway of the train station more calmly. She didn’t want to change the fact they were being overlooked. “You said it’s at the top?”

                “Yeah,” Lea said. “Do you know the way up?”

                “Of course I know the way up!” Emi cheered. “Jet and I hang out there all of the time—“ She paused and frowned. “Hung out. Past tense I suppose.” Suddenly the enthusiasm and excitement that she held fell into a trash heap at her feet and she stopped paying as close attention to everything. Jet. Jet should be there experiencing these wonderful things with her. Jet was the one who wanted to see all of this stuff, not her. He was supposed to be guiding her way, not some stupid red-spiked stranger who just happened to have a Keyblade. Sure, Lea was nice. But Lea was not Jet. Lea was not her best friend whom she would never see again.

                The man looked sympathetic. “Cheer up,” he suggested. “Your friend would want you to be happy; he’d want you to be having as much fun as you were before.” He sighed. “I’m sorry I told you to calm down. I wasn’t trying to upset you.”

                After a moment Emi’s smile returned. “You’re right; Jet would want me to be happy. He’d want me to explore and to learn what’s out there!”

                “Jet sounds like a cool guy,” Lea said, “and even if you never see him again; he’ll always stay with you in your heart.”

                His eyes showed more sympathy than Emi could comprehend someone who hadn’t gone through the same having. She wondered about it, but as usual, she didn’t say anything on the matter. It was probably something private. She got the feeling that it was something this peculiar man who was becoming a friend wasn’t willing to share with just anybody. She understood that she wasn’t someone whom would have the privilege of hearing the story yet, if ever.

                She walked at a slower pace to the top of the stairs and onto the ledge. She stopped and stared out into the sunset. “Maybe if the sunsets had changed like this, even one that’s always there… maybe I’d like the color orange after all,” she mused.

                Lea laughed. “That’s all you have to say about the sunset; that you hate the color orange?”

                “No! You weren’t listening! I said that I wouldn’t hate it is the sunset had changed!” Lea looked confused. “The clouds; there were never clouds from up here! There were never clouds towards the sun at all.” She pointed into the distance. “The waves never crashed so harshly. The wind never blew so strongly that I felt like I was going to fall. The sun never made me squint. Everything was different from how it is now, but nothing ever changed.”

                “So… you stopped appreciating the sunset because it stayed the same,” Lea concluded.

                “Exactly,” Emi confirmed. “The orange was different than this one. It had less pink to it. The clouds never shimmered like this…” She sighed. “I wish Jet could see this.”

                Lea frowned. “You know, there are a lot of things that I wish a few people I knew could have seen; but they’re gone now. Maybe Jet is like them. Maybe Jet’s gone, but as long as you remember him, he’ll always be a part of you.”

                She stared out into the distance, but her heart was far away with the friend she missed. “Maybe you’re right…” she said. She shook her head. “Anyway, how do we get to this alleged ‘gummi ship’?”

                Lea pointed towards an opening on the clock face. It was a keyhole. He pulled out his Keyblade and pointed it towards the opening, and with a click, the door swung open. He opened it further and let Emi inside.

                Emi rushed into the room and looked around. There was an empty space that a ship may have been in, but nothing was there. “Is this where it was supposed to be? Because if it is, it’s gone.”

                Lea looked around frantically. “Where’d it go?”

                Emi walked over to a computer and hit a few buttons. A door opened in the floor and through the opening rose a strange shape. The object was a curious thing; it was composed of multicolored blocks and looked like a toy plane. “Is this it?” she asked.

                Lea looked over. “Yeah. That’s it.” He calmed down and walked over. “How’d you know it would be there?”

                She giggled. “I didn’t. I just like playing with computers.”

                “That can be dangerous you know,” Lea chided.

                “Sure, sure,” Emi admitted. “But it has always had good results so far. I mean, I got you out by pushing a shiny red button.”

                Lea stared blankly at her for a moment. “You got me out of that machine by pushing a red button? Haven’t you ever heard not to hit red buttons? If it’s red, it may as well have a ‘do not touch’ sign.”

                “All the more reason I’d end up checking it out,” Emi joked. “Curiosity and all that.”

                “Curiosity killed the cat,” Lea quoted.

                “And satisfaction brought it back,” Emi finished the quote.

                “What?” Lea questioned and squinted.

                “That’s the quote: ‘curiosity killed the cat and satisfaction brought it back.’ That’s what I read in a book at least.” She turned her head to look at him. “What, you’ve never heard it?”

                “Not the last part,” Lea admitted. “That makes it mean the exact opposite of what I thought.”

                “You’ll have to stop using it then,” she teased.

                “Curiosity killed the cat,” Lea muttered, “and satisfaction brought it back…”

                “Are you still stuck on that?” Emi laughed. She ran up to the ship and looked for a way to climb into what appeared to be a cockpit. “How do we get in this thing?”

                Lea grabbed a remote from behind a tire. He pressed the button and there was a beeping sound before air was released from the pressurized cabin. “Like this,” he stated. A ladder slowly descended from the cockpit and he walked up to it.

                “Huh.” Emi stared at it.

                “Are you coming or not?” Lea pressured. He started up the ladder.

                “Yes, I’m coming!” She hurried to follow him.

                Inside the ship was a bizarre array of electronics. The walls were blue with multiple computer screens adorning them. She was overwhelmed by the different lights flashing all around. The air was stuffy when the door closed. “How do you work this thing?” she wondered.

                “I’ll just do it. You don’t know much about _anything_ ; the last thing we need is for you to get ahold of the controls and drive us into some wall somewhere.”

                “Hey!” Emi protested as Lea slid into the driver’s seat.

                “Sit down,” Lea ordered. “We’re about to take off.”

                Emi grumbled but complied, and once she was seated, a portal opened in the ceiling of the clock tower. Lea directed the ship to face upwards. Emi was beyond a little disoriented by this and there were no seatbelts. “What the hell, Lea?”

                “Are you ready?” he asked nonchalantly.

                Before she could answer the ship flew out of the building and she was left to hold on and try not to scream.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 (Emi)

                “Welcome to Radiant Garden!” Lea announced to the seasick Emi. “Luckily it is still looking pretty radiant. I was worried with the heartless being back and all.”

                Emi looked out of the ship. “We’re at a world?” she asked wearily. “Praise the lord.” She sighed in relief as she stood up. “And we’re not upside down anymore. You’re a terrible driver, you know that, right?”

                Lea chuckled. “I know I’m not the best at it,” he admitted, “but I don’t think you would have done any better.

                He was probably right, but Emi wasn’t about to admit that to his face. Instead, she walked over to the window and looked down at the world below. They were hovering feet above the ground in an area she was sure would be difficult for someone to find. It made sense; they wouldn’t want someone to steal their way out of here while they were unawares.

                “So why did we come here?” Emi asked. “What do you think you might find that will help us along the way?”

                “This was once my home,” Lea explained, “when I was a kid. Eventually, after I was human again, I came back and lived here.”

                “That doesn’t answer the question, but okay. I’ll roll with it.” Emi stretched her arms above her head until her back popped.

                “Sorry, I guess that wasn’t very clear,” Lea apologized. “What I mean to say is that there are people here who might be able to help us. Well, maybe not, but who knows?” Lea walked towards the door. “If nothing else, this is where the heartless were originally released and manufactured. Maybe there is a sign somewhere in this world that can help us fight Origin.”

                Emi sighed and followed him to the door. “At least you’re giving us a place to start.”

                They climbed down the ladder and reached a flower filled courtyard below. Emi looked around this strange place before staring up at the sky. It was a soft and airy blue. The sky wasn’t orange like in Twilight Town, and the sun wasn’t fixed in place. “The sky is blue…” she said dully in an attempt to hide her excitement. But regardless of the attempt, her eyes were finally broken off of the blue abyss above her and onto the flowers of many hues, the stones that were grey not tan, the cobblestone pattern that was different from the bricks she was used to. Everything was alive and moving. Birds were singing and the air was fresh in her lungs. She was awestruck by the beauty of this strange and new place. She had to fight the urge to spin in a circle and take it all in and she fought the urge to run off in a random direction to explore.

                “I guess it would be different for you, wouldn’t it?” Lea acknowledged. “You’re used to the same thing each day from what you said. You’ve probably never seen a blue sky before.”

                “Not since I was very little,” she agreed. “It’s so strange. It’s beautiful, but it’s almost unsettling. The sun never went below the horizon in Twilight Town that I knew. It stayed in place constantly as a beacon speaking of how little things changed and just how much they stayed the same.” She wished that Jet were here. She wished that Jet were here to see the things that he always told her about, the things that she had brushed aside as fiction or dreams. He deserved to see these things more than she. He was her best friend and she cared very deeply about him. She wished that he were there to experience this with her. Things were so new, so different, but not in a bad way. Emi wanted nothing more than to be able to share it with her friend.

                “Let’s go,” Lea called after her. Emi hadn’t even noticed until that moment that he was exiting the courtyard.

                She turned to jog after him. “I’m coming!” she yelled. She finally caught up to him. “These look like castle gates,” she noted. “Just where are we going?” she asked.

                Lea laughed. “They aren’t castle gates; they just lead to the gardens.”

                “And why are we going to the gardens?” she pressed.

                “There’s something I want to see there,” he said, “something that might lead to us finding Origin.”

                “What is it?” Emi wondered. She looked around nervously as they passed through the gate. She felt like she shouldn’t be there at all. She felt like she was intruding on something that she wasn’t sure she wanted anything to do with.

                “I’m not sure, exactly,” Lea said. “Here’s where I first ran into Origin. I was walking past a weird rock that hadn’t been there before. It hadn’t thought anything about it until our trip here. I mean, people don’t pop out of stones.”

                “What were you doing here?” She asked. “Isn’t this place kind of… private?”

                Lea chuckled. “It is, but I had permission to use it as a training ground. I spent a lot of time here. I didn’t start out being very skilled with my Keyblade, so I spent a lot of my time learning how to use it properly. That day, though, I was just feeling nostalgic.”

                “Oh,” Emi said. She nodded slowly. “I guess that makes more sense.” She looked around the garden at the strange shrubs and stone pathways through the extremely green grass that led up to what appeared to be a staircase.

                “The stone was over there,” Lea said as he pointed in the direction.

                Emi looked over and started to follow him; but she heard a noise behind her and turned around. She was face to face with someone who she believed she’d never see again. “Jet?” she asked the dark haired boy who was staring at the ground.

                When Jet lifted his head and looked at her, there was no light in his eyes. “Emi,” the voice that she knew said. “You have to go back!”

                “…Jet?” Emi asked again, starting to walk towards him. “You know I can’t go back. You said it yourself!”

                “Is this your Jet?” Lea asked as he turned around to catch up with her.

                “Yeah,” Emi said, “but he’s acting strange…”

                Lea froze and looked like he’d seen a ghost when he got close enough to Jet. “He looks like…” Lea trailed off.

                Emi stopped a few feet in front of Jet. “You said I can’t go back, but obviously you’ve managed to get out of the illusion too! Now you can come with us!”

                “No,” Jet growled. “I can’t…”

                “Jet?” she asked once again and started backing up. “No… you can’t be Jet.” Jet would never stare at her with cold and lifeless eyes that looked like they wanted to hurt her. Jet would never have teeth clenched in what appeared to be anger towards her. Jet would never speak to her in that tone of voice.

                The face changed for a moment back to the Jet that she knew. “Emi, you need to ru—“ The soft and worried voice that she knew was truly Jet was cut off and his eyes returned to the lusterless quality that had been there before. He summoned his weapon, a Keyblade of his own.

                “Jet? Jet!” She ran towards him, but Lea put a hand on her arm to stop her.

                “Don’t touch her!” Jet roared as he rushed towards them and attacked Lea.

                Lea raised his Keyblade and blocked the attack. “What the hell?” he asked. “What’s going on here, Emi?”

                “I don’t know!” she yelled. “But I do know that my Jet would never act like this. Something’s wrong!”

                “A little help would be nice!” Lea barely dodged another attack.

                Emi went in to attack but she froze. She shook her head. “I can’t hurt him! I’m sorry, Lea!” she said. Instead she jumped in front of Lea and was hit by Jet’s Keyblade.

                Jet froze and his Keyblade fell to the ground. She looked at his face. His eyes were normal and he looked like he was about to cry. “I’m sorry Emi…” he whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

                “Jet, it’s okay! Come with us! We’ll help you!” Emi insisted. She checked her arm and there was only a small gash.

                “I can’t, Emi: I couldn’t come with you then, and I still can’t now!” he wailed. “I have to hurt you. Origin…” he trailed off and it was obvious that he was fighting against whatever had control of him. “Please… destroy me before I can destroy you!”

                She shook her head. “I can’t hurt you Jet; I never could, and I never will!” She went to touch his shoulder but he jumped back. “Jet, it’s okay! It’s going to be okay!”

                “No it’s not Emi,” Jet said. He took a deep breath. “If you can’t destroy me, then have your friend do it for you. I have to hurt you! I don’t want to hurt you…”

                “I’m not going to kill you either,” Lea said as he stood up from the ground. “So don’t even ask me to.”

                Jet took a few more steps back. “I have to go before he gets control again!” he said hurriedly. “Go: go to the castle. You know the place, Lea. You’ll find him there.”

                “Find who there?” Lea demanded.

                “I don’t know his name,” Jet said.  “But he’s a Keyblade Master.” Jet put his hands on his head. He screamed as he backed into a portal of darkness that formed behind him.

                “Jet!” Emi called and tried to reach out to him; but he was gone.

                Lea growled. “Origin; that son of a bitch.”

                “What did he do to him?” Emi cried.

                “He’s using him…” Lea said slowly. “He’s using him like Xehanort used Isa.”

                Emi looked over at Lea and was shocked at the distress she saw there. He was far more upset than she had expected by these events, and she was left to wonder what he meant. “What?”

                “Isa,” Lea began, “he was a friend of mine. Xehanort used him as a puppet. He was a way that he intended to bring himself back from the dead. Isa was being used as a vessel for one of the ‘thirteen darknesses.’ Isa…” Lea looked down.

                “Jet’s not a tool!” Emi protested.

                “I never said he was,” Lea stated. “All I said was that he’s being used. Origin’s controlling him.” He paused. “I wonder how?”

                Emi sighed. “I don’t know, but we have to help Jet!” She knew what she had to do now. She didn’t need to find her parents. She just needed to get Jet back. “He shouldn’t be being used like this! Origin’s using him to try to get to me!” She couldn’t let this happen. There was no way in hell that this was going to happen if she had anything to do with it, and she would have something to do with it. She couldn’t let Jet be a puppet! “Jet would never hurt me if he had any control at all!”

                Emi looked down at the thought to the injury on her arm. She cast a quick cure spell and it was gone, but it was the matter of principle that Jet had been forced to raise his sword to her. Jet didn’t deserve this! He hadn’t done anything! Jet was just Jet. Jet was a young boy, younger even then her. He was the sweetest, kindest, gentlest, and most fragile person that she had ever known. Mind you, she may not have known anyone else at all if the whole illusion thing was true, but the point stood that he was a wonderful person and even a terrible person didn’t deserve that kind of fate.

                Lea looked at her sadly and with a look of understanding. It was like he had gone through the exact same thing. “It’ll be okay,” Lea assured. “We’ll figure this out. We’ll get him back.”

                “You say that now, but earlier you said that he might be gone for good,” Emi pointed out. “How do you know that hasn’t changed?”

                “I didn’t know if he was even what you thought he was,” Lea said, “but now that I’ve seen him, I know that he wasn’t just part of that illusion you were in. I… I wasn’t able to get Isa back, but maybe Jet will be different.”

                Emi studied his sad face, but she slowly nodded. Even if Lea was only trying to cheer her up, she hoped for all of their sakes that Lea was right. It seemed like Lea needed to see that this kind of thing could happen, that things could work out for the best in the end after all. It seemed like that hope was gone from his heart, and maybe, just maybe, if they could save Jet that hope could return.

                Emi shook her head and cleared her throat. As much as she’d like to linger on the subject and try to work out an immediate solution, she knew that wouldn’t work. They needed to follow what Jet had said. Maybe if they found this other Keyblade Master they would be able to help them as well.

                “So where is this castle that we need to go to?” she wondered.

                Lea looked startled by the sudden change in subject. He looked up and pointed towards the staircase. “It’s up there. I guess he did say to go there.” He sighed. “I wonder which of the Masters are in there, if any of them really are at all.”

                Emi shrugged. “We have no choice but to take the chance, right? We have to see if someone’s there. We have no other option. I mean, what else are we going to do?”

                Lea nodded slowly. “You’re right. So let’s go.” He led the way towards the staircase.

                Emi’s mind was too busy worrying about what was going to happen to Jet to enjoy the new sights and sounds. Perhaps there would come a time later, when Jet was safe, that she could enjoy her surroundings once more and take in the new things that existed that she had never dreamed of, but in the meantime, it was miserable. Literally all she could think about was that Jet was out there suffering, being controlled, being forced to be a puppet. How was this fair?

                “Are you alright over there?” Lea asked her as she slowed to a stop to let her catch up. “You’re way too quiet.”

                Emi sighed. “I’m just worried about Jet; that’s all.”

                “I told you; he’s going to be okay,” Lea insisted. “And when I make a promise, I keep it. Got it memorized?”

                Emi couldn’t help but giggle at his wording, and he looked happy. That had apparently been his goal; to lighten the mood, if only a little bit. “I’ll try to keep that in mind, Lea,” she said. “You’d better stick to your word though. I wouldn’t want you to have had to lie.”

                “It’s not that I haven’t told lies before, I’ll admit that,” he said, “but I’ve been pretty good about telling the truth and keeping my promises lately; err, at least I was before Origin locked me in that stupid pod for so long.”

                Emi nodded and started walking gain. “Let’s keep moving then. Jet seemed like it was extremely important that we get there fast. So we need to do so.”


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

(Emi)

                The castle was strange; it was huge and mostly empty, full of layers of dust much like the mansion in Twilight Town had been. “This place is weird,” Emi said. “Was it always this creepy?”

                “Maybe not quite this creepy,” Lea admitted. “It has always been a bit strange, but this is beyond that in here today.”

                “And is it supposed to be empty like this?” Emi questioned.

                “Well…” Lea began. “It wasn’t this empty last time I was here; but it looks like that fact changed a long time ago.” Lea sighed. “I wish that I knew what happened.”

                “Maybe once we find the Keyblade Master we can find out what happened by going down into the town and talking to people. You know, getting some ideas from people who have been around to see things?” Emi considered. “You know though, I’m sure that something is going to work out and we are going to find out what’s going on. It’s just a matter of time.”

                “Yeah…” Lea agreed.

                Emi was a bit disoriented. The hallways were like a maze, the rooms were few and far between. This place wasn’t as large as it appeared from the outside, at least not at this point, but she got the feeling that that would change around any given corner. The halls were dark. The lights were flickering to the point that she wondered how they were still on at all.

                But when they rounded a corner, she gasped at the beauty she found there. The dull gold hallway was replaced by a magnificent white stone area. The ledge appeared to have nothing blocking it but there were strange sparkling lines running vertically on it. There was a deep abyss below. It was beautiful. “What is this place?” she asked Lea.

                “Hmm?” Lea said. “This area is known as the ‘Lift Stop’. There are several areas like this that are connected. We’re going to pass through a few of them if we’re to get to where I think Jet was implying we should.”

                “It’s so beautiful!” Emi exclaimed.

                Lea considered. “Yeah. I guess it is, isn’t it?” He kept walking and they headed through an opening and into a massive library.

                Emi had never seen so many books in her life, but she didn’t want to bother Lea with too many more comments. She had to, however, when she noticed that they seemed to be trapped. “Um… how do we get through here?” she worried.

                “It’s a puzzle,” Lea explained. “The bookshelves move if certain books are moved into different positions.”

                “So how do we figure it out?” she questioned.

                “We need to find the books that look out of place; for example, books of different colors in an area that has a large group of matching books,” he continued to explain. “Then we have to try to move them into the proper positions, the areas that the books match them.”

                “Sounds simple enough,” Emi said. “Let’s do this!” She rushed over to a bookshelf that had a yellow book in a sea of green. She grabbed it and ran to put it into place. Between her and Lea, the puzzle was quickly solved. The shelves moved into new positions by what seemed to be their own accord and they were soon able to pass through the path they were looking for.

                Emi walked up the newly accessible staircase. “Is it this way, Lea?” she asked.

                “Yep,” Lea said. He walked to catch up with her. “Right through here, a few more lift stops, across the top of the castle and we’re there!”

                “Across the top of the castle?” Emi worried. “Like, up in the air? Far above the ground, even farther than we were already?”

                “Yes,” Lea stated. “But don’t worry; there’s railing most of the way.”

                “What do you mean, ‘most of the way?’” Emi demanded.

                Lea simply laughed and started up the stairs. “It’s not that bad. The distance is the part that sucks. The edge is really far away if you walk near the walls in the areas without railing. I promise it’s no big deal.”

                “No big deal…” she mimed. “No big deal at all…”

                But as they passed through the area known as the Lift Stop and outside of the castle, her mind was too busy marveling at the beauty to feel the fear of heights. This was farther up than the clock tower for sure. She was used to that height; this was an entirely different experience. But more than the fear of possibly falling she was taking in the beautiful view.

                She couldn’t see the ground below. It was like the castle was floating above everything, though she knew that surely couldn’t be true. The sky seemed to glow a soft and bright pink on the edge of lavender at this height. She sky below had been blue, but at this level the world itself seemed to have changed, morphing into something of such extreme and striking beauty that she was having trouble processing it. The soft rose and lilac melding into it formed a calm feeling, but the general aura of this strange place was far more energetic and anxious. There was a feeling of dread and sorrow to this place, a feeling that things weren’t quite right.

                But when she looked around at her surroundings she observed that though they were indeed high in the air, there was a large railing blocking her fall should it come to it. There were lifts moving about on their own tracks as if on autopilot and their quiet clicking was the only things she could hear amongst the silence. “This is…”

                “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Lea joked. “Come on; let’s get going.”

                Emi nodded and followed closely behind Lea.

                Crossing over the top of the castle and passing through several hallways, they finally reached a ledge. “It should be right up here!” Lea said.

                “Wait!” Emi called as she reached out a hand and put it on Lea’s shoulder to stop his progress. There was someone in the doorway that they were supposed to be going through.

                “I see that you have made it here, Emi and Lea,” the silver haired man said in a voice that Emi recognized. “Sadly for you, I have sent Ventus away; I have ensured that he went to his friends. They’ll be together now, once everything falls into place.”

                “Origin!” Lea yelled at the man. “What did you do to them?” he demanded.

                Emi stared blankly at the man in the black cloak. This was the man that she had heard on the phone? This man… he certainly was intimidating. She hadn’t had any idea what to expect, but… “What did you do to Jet?” she screamed.

                Origin looked at her with an eyebrow raised. “That’s your first concern? You are worried about that figment?” He shook his head and laughed. “You care more about someone who isn’t real than your own parents. How quaint.”

                “Figment?” Emi breathed. “What do you mean, figment?” She was thankful that Lea was holding back and letting her get as much information out of this man as she could; she realized that Lea was waiting for his chance as well, and… she saw that Lea looked curious like he wanted to know for himself.

                Origin floated to the ground. “Oh, you don’t know, do you?” he taunted. “Jet was simply part of that illusion that you were in. He never was real at all.”

                “What are you talking about?” Emi pressed. This wasn’t making any sense. She knew Jet! And Lea had seen him too… right? “Jet’s real!” she insisted.

                “Oh, I have a story to tell you, one that I’m sure your friend Lea would love to hear as well.” Origin smiled.

                “Spill it!” Emi snapped.

                Origin chuckled at her choice of words, but he returned to his calm demeanor. “Sixteen years ago I found something in Twilight Town that I never had expected to find. There was something that lingered in the air near the clock tower of the train station. A memory that refused to die.” Origin smirked. “The memory was only a wish, but it was a wish too powerful from a death too tragic to fade away.” He paused. “And you, Lea, would know what that event would be.”

                Lea growled but said nothing. His face, however, spoke of years of torment being brought back to the surface.

                Origin continued. “That’s where I found Jet. A fragment of time tied to somewhere far away, a wish that lingered in the air after so many years; an incomplete dream strong enough to manifest under my desired.” Origin smirked. “The longing for a life that would never come to be, even when the creator was given a second chance.”

                “Xion…” Lea whispered.

                “I believe you will recall the two people whose memories lie strongest in Twilight Town; their stories live on in the sky around that tower on memories of friendship. Roxas and Xion. Theirs was a tragic tale to be frank. Quite satisfying to run across.” Origin smiled at Lea, and when Emi looked at her companion she saw horror and hatred. “And that event; her first death, the one that everyone forgot about; the one named Xion… Jet represents the life that she never would receive, even in her second chance.”

                “Jet’s Xion’s… Jet’s Xion’s kid?” Lea asked in outrage.

                “No, technically; he’s nothing at all,” Origin assured. “He was but a dream of what would never be. Xion was a sentimental girl in the end, you know. She never wanted to die.” Origin laughed. “But where Xion was real, regardless of what those stupid idiots at the Organization told you, Jet is only a wish. He never was and never will be anything real at all.” Origin smirked. “Not even a memory, not even a dream; an instant in time to be used for creating illusions… Though perhaps it wasn’t meant to be under my control. It was he that created the Twilight Town in which Emi lived for so long.”

                “I don’t care what you say; Jet’s real!” Emi was really getting freaked out. Was Jet truly just part of that illusion all along?

                Origin laughed. “Real or not, he is only a tool and he always has been. You leaving allowed me to further his use. You gave him stupid things like ‘emotions’ and feelings of ‘friendship.’ He didn’t want you to leave him alone in the prison where he believed he was stuck forever.”

                “You mean…” Emi gasped. “He meant it when he said ‘it was nice to know you’! He meant that he would never see me again… He really couldn’t come with me!”

                “That would be correct, young Emi.” Origin paused briefly. “But he ‘wanted’ to come with you… so all I had to do was open his ‘heart’ to the thought that it would be possible. The illusion became a part of him, and now because he wanted to leave, I allowed him to do so; the catch was that I wasn’t going to let him do what he believed was right.” Origin shook his head. “It’s too bad that he held back earlier. I had to punish him for his failure to act against you. I truly made a mistake by letting him fester on his own and grow into something beyond a puppet.”

                “You hurt Jet!” Emi growled. “Where is he? Tell me where he is! What did you do to him?”

                Lea summoned his Keyblade. “I’m not letting you do this to Xion’s kid!”

                Origin rolled his eyes. “Weren’t you listening, Lea? Jet isn’t—“

                Emi rushed in and tried to hit Origin. Her sword slid right through like it only went through air and he went untouched. “What?” she breathed as she took a step back.

                Origin glared at her. “You dare try to harm me?” he demanded. “You lack so much respect that you raise your sword to me? Did you really believe you could injure me? How pathetic.” He summoned his weapon; it looked like a circular saw attached to a chain. “I should finish you off myself rather than taking the pleasure of making Jet do so.”

                Lea grabbed Emi’s arm and pulled her along. “Hey!” Emi protested. “Where are we going?”

                “I just remembered that we can’t hurt him, Emi!” Lea watched behind them and sped up when he saw Origin growing closer. “We have to get away from his fast! If you’re going to be around to help your friend, you’d better hurry and get to that lift!”

                Lea shoved her on before she had a chance to think and he hit the button on the console in the center. “Why can’t we hurt him?” she asked as the lift began to move and a barrier formed around it as it spun in a circle around the castle.

                “I never could figure it out,” Lea admitted. “But he can hurt us. So we had to get away from there.” He sighed. “There’s got to be a way to figure this out. We just have to find it.”

                Emi was thankful that Origin was not pursuing them. He was left behind in the dust, faded away to somewhere else to wait for his chance to make another move. But now Emi had a question for Lea: “Who’s Ventus? And what has Origin done to him?”

                Lea looked over. “Ventus was one of the Keyblade Masters. He was a dear friend.” Lea shook his head. “Surely Origin hasn’t done anything too terrible to him. Surely not.”

                Emi took a moment to think. “Ventus… Ven?” She perked up. “Uncle Ven?” she wondered as she searched her recently awakened memories. “The blonde guy with blue eyes and the voice of an angel?”

                “Uh… I don’t know about the voice part,” Lea noted, “but that would be the one.”

                Emi smiled for a moment. Then her mind wandered back to the fact that Ventus was still missing and Jet… Jet was hurt somewhere and he was _still_ being used as a puppet.

                “Don’t worry though,” Lea commented. “We’ll find him.”

                “But what about Jet?” Emi panicked. “Jet’s so sensitive, and Origin’s hurt him! Poor Jet!” Her heart was racing. “Jet didn’t do anything to deserve this! It’s my fault. I’m the one who listened to Origin and left!”

                “Hey!” Lea interrupted. “We’ll help Jet. I promise you that.”

                “How can you do that?” Emi demanded.

                “Because it’s like I said earlier; I keep my promises. I thought you had it memorized,” Lea joked. “I’m not going to let someone be controlled whether I know them or not, and obviously Jet means a lot to you.”

                Emi frowned. “We have to help him. He’s so fragile…” She sighed. She remembered so many times in the past that he would get upset over the tiniest things. He would shy away if she so much as raised her voice a little in frustration towards him. He was always so scared, so helpless, and he was so young. He wasn’t young in the literal sense; he was only a year younger than her, but _his heart_ had always been so naïve and innocent. “I can’t let Origin break him.”

                “I’m sure he’s stronger than you think,” Lea assured. “We’ll find him and we’ll get him through this.”

0o0o0

(Jet)

                The voice laughing in his mind was loud and incessant but the darkness around him was far more unsettling. Origin’s cackling was nothing compared to the complete emptiness of this place that he had come to. This was his punishment. He had known that one would come and that it would be harsh, but this… this darkness, this emptiness, this loneliness…

                “This is where you’re meant to be,” Origin taunted. His voice echoed all around the dark void. “This is what you’re meant to be. This emptiness… this non-existing state is what you are meant to be in.”

                “Shut up, Origin,” Jet tried to yell, but as much as he couldn’t see and he couldn’t move, he had no voice to speak with.

                “Oh, you may try to struggle, but until you comply you will not leave this place.” He sounded amused. “This is where you once were, were you not? Perhaps you don’t remember…”

                “I do remember, and it wasn’t here!” he tried to scream. “I was in a happy place. It was warm and light. I was with my mom! You took me away from her.” His voice quavered. “I was a piece of her dreams and you wouldn’t even let her keep me…”

                “Aw, poor thing,” Origin mocked. “Do you want to go back to your mommy?”

                “That’s not what I—“

                “Well, too bad. You’re mine now. You belong here.” Origin’s velvety voice wavered throughout the void. “You were never meant to exist, much as I never was. You’re less than even me. At least I’m a memory. You… you’re nothing.”

                “Maybe you’re right,” Jet whispered. “Maybe I am nothing. I never was…”

                “That’s a good boy,” Origin said. “Now just calm down. It will all be over soon.”

                “No it won’t,” Jet acknowledged. “You’ll never send me back where I belong, and I’ll never belong anywhere else. I’m just something else that you’ve ruined…”

                “And I take pleasure in that.”

0o0o0

(Emi)

                Retracing their steps through the castle had been the easy part. Now the problem was going to be finding out what to do. “Where are we supposed to start? We don’t know where any of the Masters are,” Emi worried, “and we don’t know what’s happened to Jet!”

                Lea sighed and silently shrugged. “I wish I had an answer.” He was downhearted; it worried her. “Maybe we should check everywhere; there has to be a clue somewhere around here. Even if we don’t find Terra, Aqua, and Ven first, maybe we can find some of the others. I mean, I don’t know if Origin got to all of them or if some are still free.”

                “Where would they be if he hadn’t?” Emi wondered.

                “Well, the King would be at Disney Castle—“

                “You know a king?” Emi interrupted excitedly.

                “Well, that’s not the weirdest thing about him, either; and besides, if people are missing, I’m sure he’s out looking for them.” Lea stopped and turned to look at Emi. He suddenly grinned. “I know what we can do! First we need to cheer you up!”

                “Why do I need to cheer up?” Emi asked dully. “What’s the point in being cheerful? We’re on a mission that very well could lead nowhere.” She was miserable. Her eyes felt like they were burning in the stages before tears. She wanted to go home and sleep and not wake up for a very long time. She wished that she was back at home so that she could climb under the familiar covers of her bed and get a good night’s sleep. But she knew that those things could never happen, since she would never go back to that illusion. And even if she could she wouldn’t want to go back without Jet being there beside her.

                Lea shook his head and led the way to a storefront. “This just won’t do. We need to get you happy before we try to figure anything out. You know, searching with a sad mind and an empty stomach will lead to nowhere.”

                “That’s not true,” Emi disagreed. “Who ever said that is an idiot.”

                Lea walked up to the store window. “Two sea-salt ice-creams please!” he said as he handed munny through the window. He stepped back over to Emi and held one out to her.

                Emi raised an eyebrow. “Not sea-salt ice-cream,” she complained. That was what she always had with Jet! She and Jet would have it every day after school without fail. This was too depressing. She couldn’t eat it! She just couldn’t. She couldn’t do it! But…

                “Oh, come on Emi. Sweets are good,” Lea insisted, “and it will help you cheer up, I promise.”

                She sighed and took the ice cream. “Fine,” she resigned. “But I’ll have you know that this stupid ice cream isn’t going to make everything okay. It’s not going to bring Jet back. All it’s going to do is make me think about him.”

                “If you think about him, maybe he’ll show up,” Lea suggested. “It’s unlikely, but worth a shot, right? And come on, you’ve always had good times with him. This will be a good reminder.”

                Emi sighed and took a bite of the sweet popsicle. She still frowned as she chewed the bite, but her heart did seem to loosen a bit and she was able to take a deep breath and think. “What is it about this stupid sweet that’s so refreshing?”

                “It’s the sea-salt,” Lea suggested, “or maybe it’s the memories. But I know that it has always helped me get through rough times to share it with a friend.”

                “Are we friends, then?” Emi asked.

                Lea blinked. “I thought we were.”

                “Yeah, that’s fine.” Emi smiled. “It’s just that I hadn’t thought of it like that. I never really have given much thought to having friends. I mean, I had a few besides Jet, but it turns out that none of that was real. I’m having a rough time working through things.”

                Those words were definitely true. Without Jet, nothing was making sense. The fact that he was out there in pain or worrying was driving her crazy. She wanted to help him. She wanted to make everything better. She wanted to take away whatever pain he was in.

                But she had to acknowledge that she could only do so much from where she stood. She had to stop and take a break, to relax and unwind. Maybe she’d be better prepared for whatever might come next, be it another battle with Origin or someone else, or maybe… maybe even if she had to fight Jet again. She didn’t know how she would make it work, but this all would work out in the end. Lea had said so, right? She had it memorized. She was going to make sure he stuck to that promise no matter what happened, even if the words had been a joke.

                “You know, Lea… Maybe that catchphrase of yours is okay after all,” she said.

                “Where’s that come from?” Lea wondered.

                “The whole ‘got it memorized’ thing. It’s far more interesting than other compulsive things to say, and it’s kind of reassuring that you’re always so sure of yourself.” She paused. “Thank you, Lea; I really appreciate you being here to help me through all of this.”

                Lea looked taken aback. “You’re welcome,” he said. “I’d do it for any friend. It’s not just you, but I hope that you realize that I’m here for you no matter what.”

                Emi had to wonder though; would he care so much about Jet if he wasn’t connected to this Xion person whom Origin had spoken of? Or was this Xion the only thing that brought any care at all into Lea’s connection to Jet? They didn’t know each other, after all, and Jet had attacked them upon their first meeting. She didn’t know what to think, and she didn’t know what to do.

                She had to trust him. There was no other choice. She couldn’t go out there and handle this all on her own. She had to believe that this one person in all of the worlds was there to back her up, since Jet wasn’t able to right now.

                And Jet… She knew that she’d find Jet; and she would help him out of whatever might come.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

(Emi)

                “So _this_ is Disney Castle?” Emi asked in awe as she saw the area that they were approaching. This castle wasn’t as impressive as that at Radiant Garden, but rather it was almost whimsical and cartoonish. The white castle had blue roofs on the towers and main structure. There were impressive topiaries all around and she wasn’t sure what the goal of the entire aesthetic was supposed to be.

                But more impressive by far was the town below. There were race tracks and games and roller coasters; it was like an amusement park! Emi really wanted to get down there and run around the place to have fun, but she knew they had an important task at hand that they had to solve. They had to try to find this ‘King’ and they had to use his help to try to find the other Keyblade Masters and Jet. Right now, they had no idea whatsoever what they needed to do.

                “That’s right,” Lea told her. “That’s Disney Castle. Impressive, isn’t it?”

                “Well, not in so many words.” Emi giggled. “I was going to say that it looked silly. It doesn’t look like any castle I’ve ever seen— not that I’ve seen very many castles.”

                “Don’t be such a spoilsport; you know you think it’s cool!” Lea joked.

                “Well, I don’t know about the castle being cool,” Emi commented, “but I know that the stuff below it looks fun. It’s too bad we have to hurry. I’d really like to check out some of those rides! It looks so fun!”

                Lea laughed. “I’ll tell you what: as soon as this is all figured out and everyone’s safe, I’ll make sure you and Jet end up back here to check it all out. I’m sure that you and Jet will love it.”

                Emi smiled. “You’re optimistic today.” Emi noted. “And you know; maybe you’re right. Maybe I will find Jet, and maybe we’ll be safe. Once that happens, I’m sure he would love to see this place. I don’t know if rides are his thing though…”

                “There’s other games too,” Lea said. “It’s really cool here.”

                “I bet it is,” Emi agreed. She couldn’t help but smile at the thought of being able to take Jet here. Surely he would love it, and after everything that was happening, they both deserved to have a little fun, right?

                As they exited the gummi ship, Lea asked a question. “Say Emi; you talk about Jet a lot. I was wondering…”

                “What?” she wondered.

                “Well, it’s just being nosy, but do you love him?” Lea finally asked.

                Emi paused in thought. “He’s like a brother to me, so I love him in that way,” she explained. “I’ve never really bothered to give it more thought than that. We’re super close, but I don’t think that there’s anything out of the ordinary about it.”

                Lea shrugged. “Sorry to be so nosy,” he apologized. “I know it isn’t any of my business. I’m just trying to get you figured out, and maybe figure out a little bit more about Jet too. You know, so that I know what we’re dealing with.”

                Emi paused. She definitely could tell him more about Jet. For whatever reason, she could talk about Jet all day every day. “Jet’s cool,” she began. “He’s sweet and kind. He’s quiet and a bit of a pessimist, but I guess that makes sense after all that I know now. If he knew what was going on, and I know he did because he talked about it, then I could understand being worried all of the time.” She paused. “One of our favorite things to do together is play basketball, and he’s not very good at it but has fun. I know that sounds random, but you know, it is just another thing that made us _us._ ”

                “Basketball, huh?” Lea asked. “I guess I didn’t take you for the sporty type.”

                “Why? Because I’m a girl?” Emi protested.

                “No, that’s not what I meant!” Lea held his hands up defensively.

                “You better not have!” Emi stated. She sighed. “Anyway, we loved to do things like that; we ran around a lot and we were always moving. It was almost like he was training me for all of this, but that might be a bit of a stretch.”

                “I don’t know,” Lea disagreed. “If he knew that one day you’d get out of there he’d want you to be ready for anything that might come at you.”

                “I guess you’re right,” Emi admitted. “And that would make sense. He taught me some spells as well, though mostly healing spells. I never was good at learning things like fire magic, but I’m good with thunder. And… I don’t know why I never questioned how he knew those things to teach me.” She was beginning to get sad with all of this talk about her friend and how much she had ignored him, how much she was sure he was exaggerating things and that he was being paranoid when he was right. She always should have listened to him and not brushed him off.

                “We’re almost to the path that leads to the castle,” Lea noted in an attempt to change the subject.

                Emi tried and failed to smile; she kept walking forward with her head tilted towards the ground. This pace was different from the other places she had been, but the newness of everything seemed to be wearing off into something more expected than anything extreme.

                But now that she was done talking, she took the time to take in the sights and sounds and scents. It smelled like popcorn and sweat and machines, and when she looked around, it made sense since they had just passed popcorn machines and rides. It made sense for things to be like they were. When she looked up at the sky it was even bluer than it had been at Radiant Garden. It was nice to see the bright blue adorned with clouds that almost had strange shapes that appeared like they were purposely placed in that form, but surely that wasn’t possible. The streets were paved with stones of a light golden color that were accentuated with lights that directed towards the center of the park.

                But now they approached a large iron gate and there were guards standing before them. Lea looked at them. “Hey Horace; you remember me, right?” Lea asked.

                Horace, a humanoid that looked a bit like a horse, looked over at Lea. “Lea,” he acknowledged. “What are you doing here?”

                “I was hoping I’d be able to see the King,” he explained.

                “I can’t let you in,” he told him.

                Emi was trying not to stare at this strange looking creature. It made no sense to her, but she supposed that things could be very different in other worlds. How could she know what was going to come around any given corner? How could she know what was normal and what wasn’t? Obviously here, this strange humanoid was normal, so who was she to judge?

                Lea sighed. “Why not?” he pressured. “You know me.”

                “No one comes in,” Horace reiterated.

                “Let them in,” a female voice said. When Emi looked through the gates to see who it was, she saw a duck. A giant duck wearing a dress and a crown. “I’m sure it’s safe.”

                “But Duchess Daisy—“

                “I said let them in. The queen would be happy to see Lea,” Daisy insisted.

                Reluctantly, Horace stepped out of the way and let them though.

                “Hi, Daisy,” Lea greeted. “Long time no see.”

                “Indeed,” she agreed. “I’m sure that you have a lot to explain to the queen. I’ll take you to her now.”

                Emi paused and looked up at Lea. “I thought you said we were coming to see a King,” she pondered.

                Lea looked over at her, as did Daisy. “We’ll figure that out later,” Lea said. But Emi got the feeling that the King wasn’t around from the look on Daisy’s face.

                She looked back over at the curious duck. “Oh! I’m Emi!” she introduced herself.

                “Hello,” Daisy said. “You may have heard in conversation that I’m Daisy.”

                “It’s nice to meet you!” Emi said with a smile.

                Daisy led the way through the gardens and into the castle. Emi stared in wonder at everything that she saw as they passed. The hallways were impossibly large, the ceilings far higher than could ever be needed. The carpets were red runners across the floor that led to specific rooms. Emi wasn’t sure how it was possible for passageways to be so large and so bright at the same time… but by far the strangest thing she saw in this place was the brooms walking down the hallway carrying buckets, perhaps to clean the massive floors. She wasn’t sure what to think about the oddities. It was surreal.

                They finally entered a huge great room and in the center stood a large mouse in a pink dress with a crown adorning her head. “Queen Minnie,” Daisy called to her and the mouse turned around to face them. “Lea’s here!”

                The queen’s face lit up. “Lea!” She sounded extremely excited. “It’s great to see you. I was worried that something had happened to you.”

                “Yeah, I know I was gone for a long time. I was trapped in a pod thing that had me in a stasis until Emi here found me.” Lea looked over at Emi. “I’m sure you two haven’t met yet.”

                Emi noted that Lea didn’t bow, but that didn’t mean that she was about to be so rude to royalty. She curtsied and looked back up. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, your majesty,” she said.

                The queen smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Emi,” the Queen agreed. She turned to Lea. “What brings you here?”

                “Well,” Lea began, “I was kind of hoping that King Mickey would be here and that he would have some idea what was going on,” he stated, “but I get the feeling that he’s not…”

                The Queen frowned and looked down. “The King has been missing for a decade now,” she said. “He disappeared, along with all of the other Keyblade Masters. That’s why it is such a pleasant surprise to see you now. I thought you might all be dead.”

                Emi frowned. “I’m sorry that your husband is missing,” she sympathized quietly. It was truly a terrible thing. She couldn’t imagine not knowing where someone that she cared about was, fearing that they were dead… well, maybe she could. But she hadn’t had to worry for ten years. A few days was more than enough.

                “It’s certainly not your fault,” the Queen assured.

                “Oh,” Lea said. “I’m sorry. I hoped that not all of the others were gone.” He tried to smile. “But you know, Emi found me; I’m sure the others are out there somewhere too.”

                The Queen’s face lit up with a bit of hope. “Two new Keyblade Wielders arrived her a few days ago. You just missed them.”

                “New Keyblade Wielders?” Lea wondered.

                The Queen nodded. “Their names are Akio and Haru. They are the children of Sora and Kairi, as well as Riku.”

                “Huh,” Lea said. “I guess peoples’ kids are just coming out of the woodworks these days,” he said with a laugh.

                “Akio and Haru promised me that they would look for the King, Donald, and Goofy while they were searching for their parents,” she explained. “I had little hope that they would ever find them, but now that you’re here, I believe there could be some hope after all.”

                “But that means,” Lea said with a sigh, “that the other Masters are missing as well.”

                The queen nodded sadly. “All of them have been missing for approximately ten years now.”

                Emi frowned. “So it’s like everybody started being picked off one by one around the same time,” Emi worried. “Surely it was Origin that did it; I mean, he’s the one that captured Lea.”

                “But I suppose,” the Queen began, “at least we have an idea of what might have happened now. You said that you were in a stasis.”

                “Yes—“

                Emi interrupted. “It was so weird! I found him in this pod thing in the basement of the mansion in Twilight Town! It was so dusty, I wasn’t at that surprised to found out it hadn’t been touched in fifteen years!” She didn’t slow down. “I got him out of there and now he’s fine. I’m sure the others are fine too!”

                Lea cleared his throat. “What Emi said.” He paused. “I’m pretty sure that Origin put me there. He’s the last person I remember seeing before everything went black.”

                “Origin…” the Queen said. “So Master Yen Sid was right.”

                “What did he say exactly?” Lea wondered.

                Queen Minnie sighed. “He said that Origin was a memory that remained of Xehanort,” she explained. “He believed that the heartless that had arrived were the same.”

                “Oh…”

                “But when Akio was here—Sora’s son,” Minnie continued, “he brought up the point that ‘memories can be as powerful as ‘reality’,’” she quoted. “He said that ‘the more a memory is feared, the stronger it becomes.’”

                Lea was silent for a moment. It was like he was remembering a time passed, one that he remembered with a heavy heart. “Smart kid,” he decided.

                “Akio is very smart,” she agreed. “I’m sure you’ll get to meet him sometime. And Haru as well.”

                Lea sighed. “They’re even younger than Emi is,” he stated. “Why are these kids all being pulled out on these terrible missions? They shouldn’t be out there in danger. It’s not right.”

                Emi shrugged. “I don’t know how old they are, but if they’re out there, I’m sure they’re old enough to take care of themselves,” she noted. “And you know, maybe the younger people are stronger. They are ‘more full of light’, as Jet would say. He was always reminding me not to grow up too fast and that I needed to keep ahold of my light as long as I could.”

                The queen looked up at her. “Did you say ‘Jet’?” she wondered.

                “Yeah; he’s my friend.” Emi looked at her curiously.

                “There was a boy here named Jet not long ago,” she said. “He left in a hurry, but he left a note. I couldn’t make heads or tails of it though.”

                Emi’s face brightened. “Jet was here?” she asked. “Can I see the note?”

                The queen nodded. “I don’t know it you’ll be able to read it though.” She handed it over.

                Emi took the note in her shaky hands and opened it up. “We always used to write messages to each other in code,” she explained as she tried to read it.

                “More ‘training’, I’m guessing,” Lea commented as he watched her pour over the letter.

                She read in silence, looking for some sense in the message that the others would find senseless.

                _Emi: if you are getting this note, I’m glad. You’re heading in the right direction,_ it read. _I have to write in code or else Origin might read it. I’m surprised I’m getting this written at all… All the more reason, I guess, that I should get on with it._

                There was a small gap and the text flipped so she turned the letter. _You must travel through the paths of light, seeking the worlds of the night. I’m… I’m not one hundred percent sure what that means. Maybe there are worlds where it is night time more often. Either way, if you follow them you will get to your destination. I hope that you don’t run across me on the way. I don’t know if I can stop myself from hurting you again. But I hope you understand that I didn’t want to hit you. I hope you know that I would never hurt you on purpose. I hope that you know that I’m sorry for what I had to do. Good luck._

                “Worlds of the night,” she quoted. “What could that possibly mean?”

                “What?” Lea asked.

                “The letter; Jet said that we must travel ‘through the paths of the light, seeking the worlds of the night.’”

                “Worlds of the night,” Lea wondered. “What if—“

                “He didn’t know what it meant, but he wondered if there are worlds where it is night more often or permanently,” Emi explained.

                Lea slowly nodded. “There are, actually. There are a few that I know of, and I’m sure that there are more.”

                “That’s how he said we could get to our destination,” she continued. “Not that I know what that is.”

                “We have to find the other Keyblade Masters,” Lea asserted. “That’s our goal.”

                “We have to find Jet too!” Emi protested.

                “We will,” Lea assured. “But we don’t know where to start with that.”

                “I was concerned,” the Queen said, “when I saw Jet traveling through the corridors of darkness.”

                “He’s being controlled by Origin,” Lea explained, “so it would make sense.”

                “Corridors of darkness?” Emi questioned.

                “Between the worlds, there is darkness,” Lea explained. “One way to travel between them is through portals of darkness. It’s not a safe way to do it.”

                Emi tilted her head. “Oh.” She paused. “What matters is that it’s not safe and Jet’s being forced to travel through those means. We need to figure out how to get him out of it.”

                “We’ll find him, I’m sure,” Lea promised. “I’ve said it so many times. I thought you had it memorized by now.”

                “Yeah, yeah, sorry Lea,” Emi sighed. “But since we didn’t find the king here, can we head out? I don’t want to waste any more time standing around, you know? No offence, your majesty.”

                “None taken,” the Queen said. “I understand that you’d like to get moving and find out what’s going on as quickly as possible. I’d want to do the same if I were in your position.” She sighed. “You are welcome to stay for the night,” she suggested. “I know it’s not very late, but you probably need rest. I’m sure that you’ve been traveling quite a lot.”  
                “Thanks, your highness,” Lea acknowledged, “but we should get going.”

                “Wait!” Emi interrupted. “Traveling through the worlds of the night… Do you think it would hurt to leave at nighttime? Do you think it might make a difference?” Emi wondered.

                Lea paused. “It wouldn’t hurt anything.” He looked at the Queen. “Are you sure you don’t mind us hanging out here for a little while?” he asked.

                “It’s not a problem at all,” the Queen assured. “I wouldn’t have offered if it were one.”

0o0o0

                It was late in the night before they decided to head out. The stars were above in a dark blue sky. Emi had never seen the night before. “The stars…” she whispered. “They’re beautiful.”

                Lea looked up. “I guess they are, aren’t they?” He smiled. “It’s so weird; you’re seeing everything as new for the first time. It reminds me of a couple of friends I had back in the day.”

                “Roxas and Xion?” she wondered. “You’ve mentioned those names a few times.

                Lea paused. “Yeah… it’s them.” He smiled, but there was sadness within his eyes. “I miss them a lot. I never thought I would lose them again.”

                “Hmm…” Emi began. “I think you said earlier: as long as they are in our hearts, they are never gone. Got it memorized?”

                He chuckled. “You shouldn’t use my catch phrase,” he teased.

                Emi shrugged. “It made you laugh, didn’t it?” She reached up and pulled one of the clips out of her hair to look at it before they moved on. “You know, it’s silly. Jet got me these clips as a gift years ago, but I never wore them until I left that illusion. I always was so frustrated when my hair got into my face, but I was stubborn I guess.”

                Axel frowned. “I never got a chance to give my friends gifts,” he mused. “I wonder what they would have thought of them.”

                “I’m sure they would have loved them,” she decided. “I mean, I gave Jet a necklace once. He’s worn it ever since.”

0o0o0

(Jet)

                Jet was glad to be out of that empty hell, but waiting for Emi to make it to Traverse Town was going to be torture. He didn’t want to have to hurt her, but he knew that Origin would force him to. He would have no choice in the matter. It just wasn’t fair.

                In one hand he held a charm that belonged to another. A ‘Wayfinder’, one that belonged to Master Aqua. He had found it there, in the darkness. It had gotten him out… maybe. He didn’t know what it really meant. But this charm; this ‘Wayfinder’ represented something that he knew. He knew that this ‘Wayfinder’ could lead Emi to them; it belonged to the three of them; Masters Aqua, Terra, and Ventus. This necklace was simple blue glass but seemed to hold a bit of magic… and it reminded him of something important of his own.

                He grabbed the bottle of stars on the chain around his neck and held it up in the glowing lights of this town of perpetual night. The stars were colorful; all of them were metallic shades of silver, blue, red, pink, green… every hue imaginable all formed into tiny stars and enclosed in a round bottle that hung on a simple silver chain. Emi had gotten this for him. Even through all of the illusion, this necklace was real. And maybe, just maybe, there was some magic in it too.

                It was so funny; she had gotten it for him at a school festival, or rather, an illusion of such an event. It never was real, but that was being picky on the details. Speaking of details, the festival was full of them and complicated to make. It was crowded, it was loud, and it was in a hallway made to be dingy. It was a Halloween festival, and he was just lucky that Emi decided on this necklace and not something stupid like a pumpkin.

                She never was one to be afraid of something being cheesy; she had gotten him this particular necklace because ‘he was always talking about the stars and what was out there. He should be able to wear those dreams around his neck,’ was what she had said. He had no way of knowing her true thoughts and wasn’t sure he wanted to. Not knowing was something that made Emi special.

                This necklace and those memories; those were real, right? She remembered them… surely she did. He knew that he did. Even if they were just an illusion, even if the world they were in wasn’t real… those things really happened to them. Even if they weren’t real, they were real at the time. Why would now be any different? Surely just because Origin said that everything was a lie, an illusion, a fiction… surely that didn’t make his words true.

                But Jet was not even a memory: Origin was right about that. He was nothing, and he never would be anything at all… but maybe, just maybe he could be at least a memory to Emi.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

                After leaving Disney Castle at night they soon arrived at a new world. Emi was worried about what they might find there. There was heaviness in her heart. But maybe she was wrong. Maybe everything would be all right. “I mean, this place looks pretty calm,” she whispered.

                “Most places look calm at night,” Lea said. “Still, nothing bad is going to happen.”

                “You say that now, but how can you know?” Emi demanded. But she caught herself. “I’m sorry. I’m being a downer again. I’m not usually like this, I swear.”

                “Your whole world has been torn apart. Anyone would be a little off,” Lea acknowledged. “So it’s okay. Just keep trying to work through it and get something good out of all of this, okay?”

                “I will,” Emi promised. She looked up. “So anyway, the sky looks different here too! It’s darker and the stars are brighter. Is it just because it’s night again?”

                Lea shrugged. “If you think the stars are bright here in Traverse Town, you’ll be in for a big surprise if we go to a world without artificial light.”

                “We’re going to worlds without artificial light?” Emi asked excitedly.

                “Well, at very least they don’t have much. I can’t promise you that there will be none, but some of them don’t. Those are the worlds of the night. The true worlds of natural darkness.” Lea paused. “Well, their kind of darkness is peaceful. The darkness that follows Origin around; that’s chaos.”

                “Chaos,” Emi repeated. “Origin is followed by chaos.”

                “Darkness isn’t inherently evil, nor is chaos; but when darkness and chaos are used together is where things get dangerous,” Lea explained.

                “Does that mean that in theory light when used in chaos could be evil as well?” she wondered.

                He paused. “There you go being all philosophical again.” He laughed. “What does it matter?”

                “Maybe not now, but…” she trailed off. She never knew what would come beyond the next horizon. The worlds were strange and dark places. Who was to say that things wouldn’t turn into something completely unexpected? Even Origin was just a memory, and she didn’t know what that meant. Things weren’t set in stone.

                But that was being very dramatic and unnecessarily philosophical, so she decided they needed to move on from the topic and onto something more useful. “Where are we going in this Traverse Town?” Emi questioned. “Do you have any ideas?”

                “I know where the keyhole used to be, so we’ll start there,” he decided.

                “Keyhole?” she wondered. “What do you mean?”

                “Ah, you wouldn’t know. I never really knew before either,” he admitted. “There are these locks to the hearts of worlds. These locks protect the worlds from the darkness and stop new heartless from invading through the realm of darkness.”

                “Worlds have hearts?” Emi asked. She knew she probably sounded stupid… But what did she know?

                “Yes; worlds have hearts, and ‘Kingdom Hearts’ is the heart of all worlds. All of the worlds are connected to this one segment of time and space.” He paused. “So many people have sook that power. I believe that might be Origin’s goal too.”

                “Well, that’s confusing,” Emi noted. “I know that people have hearts. But how can a world have one?”

                Lea shrugged. “If I knew the answers, I’d tell you, but honestly I never have been that curious to know so I never asked anyone.”

                They continued up the stairs, behind the building that was labeled ‘accessories’. The lights were gaudy and neon, much like those in Twilight Town, though they were more jarring in the darkness versus the setting sunlight. The walls were wooden, the paths were dark stone. A wall surrounded the area they were in almost seeming to protect those behind them.

                “So what’s up with this world, anyway?” Emi pondered. “It seems so… empty.”

                Lea looked over. “This world only appears when people need a safe place to go. The fact that it’s here at all means that at least one person must be here; but it could be just that; one person.”

                “That’s so bizarre,” Emi noted. The worlds were so strange. She had thought things were so simply back at her home but now things were thrown out the window. How was she supposed to move on with his knowledge? How was she supposed to continue on this journey when she didn’t know her destination?

                Regardless of any thoughts on the matter, they opened a large double door and entered what Lea called the ‘second district’. “There are heartless here?” Lea growled and prepared to attack.

                Emi took on a defensive stance. She was ready to face these creatures of darkness. She didn’t know much about them, but that wouldn’t stop her from fighting. Each summoned their Keyblades and attacked, each focusing on different areas. The creatures were sneaky and liked to meld into the ground like shadows. They were as dark as the night sky, but their eyes shone a bright yellow. They had antennae, and they moved in jerky motions. They were slow and didn’t seem to see very clearly. That handicap was helpful in their battle.

                After the first wave was finished, another appeared. Lea and Emi fought in silence; what point was there to words? The new enemies seemed to wear a suit of armor over their dark bodies. They were even jerkier. They looked like little soldiers. They were swift and stronger than the shadows, but their attacks were more formulated and led to a quick defeat. No more heartless appeared.

                “So those were heartless,” Emi observed. “Creatures of darkness, I believe you said.”

                “Creatures of darkness with the goal to steal peoples’ hearts,” Lea repeated. He said no more as he continued to walk towards a staircase that led into a courtyard below. “It’s this way, Emi,” he called to her.

                She jogged to catch up, but once they were down the staircase something caught her eye; or rather, someone. “Jet?” she questioned the person sitting on the ledge of the building in the distance.

                Jet looked down. His eyes were more lucid now. He looked like there was some life left in him, but the control seemed to fade as he jumped down and came closer, wavering in and out. “Emi—you need to run!” Jet panicked as he stopped several feet away.

                Lea summoned his Keyblade but was not ready to attack. No, Emi knew he was just on guard because there was no telling what was about to happen.

                “Jet! I’m not going to run. I’m here to help you!” She started to walk closer. “You’re my friend! I’m not leaving you behind again!”

                Jet shook his head. “I’m not your friend, Emi. I’m only a dream, nothing more… and Origin’s going to make me into your worst nightmare!”

0o0o0

(Jet)

                “So please, Emi!” Jet finished. “Run away!”

                “Jet, I know that Origin has been telling you that, but I promise you, you’re more than a dream! You’re my friend!” She smiled at him and Jet felt his heart sink. He knew what Origin would make him do. “You’re real to me. That’s what matters. We can fight this!” The determination in her eyes made him want to believe her, but he couldn’t.

                “I’m not even a real dream…” he asserted. “I’m nothing at all. So please, forget about me! Don’t let me be a memory that holds you back!” But to his surprise, Origin’s hold faded for a moment. He no longer felt the strings pulling him along… he must have been preoccupied with something else.

                “Jet,” the red haired man said. Jet looked at the stranger. He was the one called Lea, and he looked like someone that his memories held. “Even if you are just a dream, dreams are real. You’re right here in front of us. You’re Emi’s friend. Why can’t you see that you are real?”

                Jet shook his head. His pulse was calmer but he was afraid to come any closer. “I’m not a dream though; you don’t understand. There was never an active desire for me to exist,” he reiterated. Lea still looked determined to convince him, and Emi looked ready to run across the courtyard and grab him. He drew his Keyblade to stop that. “I was a passive thought, nothing more; a thought that passed through Xion’s mind for fractions of a second…” his voice trailed off.

                “Jet?” Emi said slowly and she took a step forward. He held out a hand to stop her.

                “I was an instant of hope in a world that she knew was ending. As my mother died, she looked at what she wished she could have had…” He looked down. “She wished that she and Roxas and Axel could have lives together, not as nobodies; but as their own people…”

                Lea looked like something had been confirmed. “Jet? You’re Roxas and Xion’s kid?” he asked in awe. The look on his face said that he was even less likely to give up.

                “Didn’t you hear me, you spiky flamethrower?” he snapped. “I’m not supposed to exist here, Axel—I’m sorry; wrong name. Lea. I never came to be.” He calmed his voice down. “You know that they’re gone. You know that you’ll never see them again…” But Jet’s mind wandered. He had been with them before. He had been part of Xion’s heaven, and even if that was just another one of his illusions, he… he almost wished he could go back.

                “Yes, they’re gone,” Lea acknowledged. “But I remembered Xion in the end, and you were her wish. That makes you real enough to me.” He smiled. “Besides, I wasn’t real once too, you know?”

                “You…” Jet whispered. “You weren’t?” He sent away his Keyblade and he saw Emi smile in relief.

                Lea nodded. “I was a nobody. So was Roxas. And Xion… Xion was like you.” Lea held out his hand. Jet stared at it and took a step back, halfway expecting a Keyblade to appear in it. But instead, “So please, Jet; let me help you where I couldn’t help them.”

                Jet clenched his fists. “No…” He closed his eyes for a moment. “No one can help me. Not after what Origin has done. I should never have left the Twilight Town where I came from.” He looked at Emi desperately. “Please, Emi: come back with me… Let’s go home… please…”

                Emi looked about to cry. Her hope was falling away. “Jet… You haven’t done anything. It’s all on Origin.” She held out a hand too. Jet took several steps back. “Come with us! I don’t care what Origin has done to you. You’re my friend, and I’m going to get you out of this!” She smiled and looked so hopeful.

                Jet smiled, but he was sad. He unclenched his fists and looked away. “Typical Emi,” he said. “You’re always so optimistic. It always was nice. Too good to be true.”

                “Jet, please!” Emi begged. “Please come with us!”

                He shook his head. “I have to go now, before Origin makes me do anything. What you’re looking for is in the waterway,” Jet told them. He sighed. “I’m sure I’ll see you again… it’s not like Origin will let me go home anyway.” And in that moment, he wasn’t sure what he meant by ‘home’. Did he mean their Twilight Town? Did he mean back to Xion? Did he mean… did he mean anywhere at all?

                “Jet!” Emi called as he backed up into a portal of darkness.

0o0o0

(Emi)

                “Jet! Come back!” Emi cried and ran towards where he had been. But the portal was gone and Jet was gone with it.

                “Damn it…” Lea growled from behind. “Why couldn’t I have been wrong?”

                Emi turned around to look at him. “Wrong about what?”

                “He was with her; he was with Xion…” Lea muttered as he looked down.

                “Lea?” Emi was worried by the expression on her friend’s face. What was making him so upset? Was it something Jet had said? And what was it?

                He took a deep breath. “Let’s just say that my hatred for Origin just multiplied tenfold.”

                Emi shook her head. “I hate Origin too! Look at what he’s done to Jet! Maybe Jet was in control now, but he was terrified. Jet’s not supposed to be scared of anything!” She shook her head. “I know that Jet says he’s not real, but I’ve known him my entire life.” She paused. “Or at least, I think I have. I don’t know what’s real and what’s not anymore. But he’s still my friend, illusion or not, and I’m not giving up until we get him back, until we stop Origin from controlling him!”

                “I agree with you,” Lea said. “We have to save him.”

                “You agree with me?” Emi asked.

                “Yeah. I do. And it’s more important to me than ever.” Lea looked up at her with a serious expression. “Didn’t you hear what I told him? Roxas and Xion… they’re my friends, got it memorized? Whether they’re gone or not, they always will be.” He shook his head. “And whether he’s ‘real’ or not they’d want me to protect him.”

                Emi wasn’t sure what was going through his head, but she didn’t necessarily care. He was willing to help, so it didn’t matter. “Thank you, Lea! You’re the best!” She smiled widely at him and walked back over to him.

                “Of course I am!” he stated with a smirk.

                Emi had to ask though; “You said that Xion was like him… what did you mean?”

                Lea sighed. “Xion was created for the sole purpose of being used,” he explained. “She wasn’t born, and she wasn’t created like a normal nobody. In most people’s eyes, she was nothing at all.”

                “Oh,” Emi breathed. “I’m sorry; I see that this is upsetting you.”

                “No, it’s fine,” Lea said. He shook his head. “I’ve got to talk about it sometime, and you may as well know.”

                “I don’t know who Roxas and Xion were, but you seem to care about them a lot, and so does Jet.” Emi sighed. “I wish that we could help all of them.”

                Lea’s face fell and it became obvious he wanted to do the same. “We can’t help Roxas and Xion. They’re gone.” He looked sorrowful. “But Jet; Jet’s still here. We can save him. It’s not too late.”

                Emi perked up. “Then let’s go! He said we need to go to the waterway.”

                “Yeah,” Lea agreed. His expression brightened. He realized that they could worry about the rest later, once things were settled down. Maybe, just maybe, if he could save Jet he would have some closure that he had needed for a very long time. “It’s this way.”

                He led the way to another doorway that led into a smaller alleyway. In this alleyway were two canals. The area was behind an empty hotel. The entire place had a creepy, lonely air, and when she thought about it she had to wonder if the person who had needed a safe haven had been Jet. Who else could it be in this empty world that surrounded them? Would this world disappear as soon as they were gone?

                “The waterway is through here.” Lea pointed towards an area at the end of one of the canals. There was an opening that perhaps had been blocked by a gate but now that barrier was gone.

                “We’re going in there?” she worried. “What could even be in there?” It looked as if they were going to go into a sewer.

                Lea dispelled her worries. “It’s just a cave,” he assured. “There’s nothing to be afraid of, I promise.” He smiled.

                She trusted him; she always did, since the beginning. That was one thing that would never change. “Okay,” she agreed and she smiled back. “Then let’s go. We need to get in there and find out what’s going on. You never know how long we might have.”

                “I thought Jet said you were an optimist,” Lea noted. “You haven’t seemed so sure of yourself from what I’ve seen this entire journey.”

                Emi shrugged. “I think I was only optimistic because I always had Jet to back me up. Now that he’s not here, everything is so weird. I don’t know what to do with myself. I would be lost if you weren’t here to guide my way.”

                “Thankfully, I am here, so you don’t need to worry about the ‘what ifs’.” Lea nodded. “I’m going to keep you safe, got it memorized?” he promised.

                She nodded. “I believe you. You’ll keep me safe.” She paused and rubbed the back of her head. “I mean, not that I can’t take care of myself, because I can, but you know, backup is nice!” she insisted.

                They walked through the opening and as Lea had said they arrived in a cave. There was an area where the water was deep enough to need to swim, but luckily Emi knew how and was able to go through safely. She was scared by all of this but she knew she shouldn’t be. She needed to keep moving, and the distance to the shore was small enough that she could paddle through even with her minimal swimming abilities. “You know,” she noted when she reached land, “this place is kind of pretty…”

                “It is, isn’t it?” Lea agreed. “But it also is kind of creepy.”

                “It feels sad here,” Emi observed. “I think that’s the creepy part.” She looked around once they were on dry ground. “I wonder what we’re looking for here.”

                Lea scoped the room too. “I don’t know.” He scanned the floor and ceiling. “You’d think the least he could do is tell us what we need to find.”

                “Hey, go easy on him!” Emi snapped.

                “I was joking,” Lea defended. “I know that he’s not in the best state, and he might not even have known.”

                Emi pouted but said nothing. She knew that Lea wasn’t trying to be mean to Jet, but she had just seen how upset Jet had been, how ‘broken’! Jet was stronger than that. He was fragile, yes, but he was also powerful and strong. He must be in a lot of trouble to have that effect on him. Poor Jet… Emi couldn’t stop that thought from passing through her mind. Jet hadn’t done anything to deserve this.

                And what he had said and what Lea had said; he had been with ‘her.’ Who was that? Xion? Who was Xion? Jet said his mother had wished for him. Was this ‘Xion’ Jet’s mother? It was odd for it to be someone so close to Lea. Where was ‘Xion’ for him to have been with her? And how did everything work if he was an illusion after all? She knew that Lea would have no answers and he seemed upset enough already, so she wasn’t going to say a word about it.

                Instead, she scanned the room with her eyes in search of something, _anything_ at all that they might be looking for. Nothing interesting was on the stone walls; well, there was a dull mural across the room from them, but Lea was heading to check it out and Emi didn’t feel like it was what they sook. There was something else around here; she just didn’t know what it might be.

                Her vision skimmed across the floor; nothing unusual there… Wait, maybe there was. She rushed over to the object that was on the floor, her heart pounding. She was afraid of what she might find. It sparkled like a necklace… what if Jet had left his behind? What if he had left _her_ behind?

                But it wasn’t Jet’s necklace that lay on the ground. Instead, there was a star of bright blue glass sitting on the stone floor. The star had a metal symbol in the center that vaguely resembled a heart, and there was a chain affixed to it. The strange trinket seemed to glow in the dim lighting that filled the cavern.

                “Hey, Lea,” Emi called across the room.

                Lea looked up. “What is it?”

                “Come here; there’s something weird here.” Emi picked up the object and began to examine it. “I have no idea what it could be.”

                Lea rushed over and froze at the sight. “A Wayfinder?” he asked.

                “A what now?” Emi wondered. She looked up and saw he was very confused before turning her attention back to the charm.

                “It’s a charm that is made to ‘bring hearts together,’” he explained. “I’m not sure whether there’s any real clout to the thought, but who knows? I know that Terra, Aqua, and Ventus shared these charms…” He paused. “This one looks like Aqua’s.”

                Emi tilted her head. “Why would my mother’s lucky charm be sitting here in this cave?” she pondered. It didn’t make sense. How would it end up here in a world that only existed when it was needed? How would it end up in this cave? “I thought you said that this town; this world only existed to those who needed it…”

                “Maybe Aqua needed it,” Lea mused. “Or maybe the charm was needed here.”

                Emi looked around again. She was looking for something, any sign of anything else that might help make sense of all of this. Maybe…

                She spotted a note in an alcove that seemed like it might lead somewhere else. She walked over and picked up the damp piece of paper. She turned it over to read it, not knowing what to expect. “Emi…” she muttered as she read the first line. It was addressed to her. Jet? Jet had left this letter. He had been here at one point… Jet had left her more clues to search with…

                She shook her head and continued to read the message, trying not to lose focus on what the message meant.

 _I’m glad that you have found this letter. I hope that you know that I never meant to hurt you…_ Emi frowned at the piece of paper. She knew that he hadn’t. He didn’t need to apologize so much. _But I needed to get this to you. The charm; the charm will guide you through the worlds of the night. The charm will lead you to the hidden light. The Wayfinder will lead you to the hearts connected. The Wayfinder will lead to where the hearts were made separate. You will find them. The charm will guide your way. It always allowed Aqua, Terra, and Ventus to find each other no matter what. It will work the same to lead them to you; in theory, at least._

_The light from within shines like the stars that you never used to know… I wish that you were here so I could have told you how much that necklace that you gave to me meant. I know that unlike this charm, it wasn’t made by either of our hands, but this charm reminded me of the stars within the jar. Those stars… they were connected to so much that I thought we’d never know. And now, you will be able to know everything. Take advantage of this new life you’ve been given. As for me; I’m gone now. I’ll never be able to come back, nor can I ever go back home. But that necklace… that friendship that we shared; you’re right. That was real. And maybe, even though I’m not and I never will be, those memories of me will be real. Maybe through your heart, I won’t have to go away…_

_Emi, I told you to forget me, but now I must change my request. Please… please don’t forget me. Maybe it’s not right, but I want to live. I can’t live a real life; I never could. But maybe if you remember me, maybe I can live through you. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I hope you’ll at least consider._

_I saw that you were wearing the hair clips. I don’t know why you chose to, but I hope they’re as helpful as I told you they’d be._

_This may be my last chance to write a letter of my own, so I hope I’m portraying my message clearly. I want you to be happy. Go out there and live. You can find them: Aqua, Terra, and Ventus. When you find them, I know you’ll finally be happy. Tell them I said hi, okay?_

_Jet_

                “Jet…” she whispered. Why did he always insist on saying goodbye these days? Why wouldn’t it be like it always had been; why couldn’t he just say ‘I’ll see you later’? He’d be back. She knew that he would be. She would never let him fade away.

                “I’ll never forget you, Jet,” she decided. “I promise, and I keep my promises. But you already knew that, didn’t you, Jet?”

                “Why are you talking to yourself?”

                Emi jumped at Lea’s voice suddenly coming from right behind her. “How long have you been standing there?” she worried.

                “Not long,” he assured. He looked over her shoulder at the letter. “Did Jet leave you another message?” he asked.

                She nodded. “He must have come here after we talked; before we got here, I mean.” She frowned. “He’s afraid that I’ll forget him…”

                Lea flinched as if that had hit a nerve. “We won’t forget him,” Lea promised. “I know that you won’t. And I know that I won’t either. It doesn’t matter that I don’t know him like you do.”

                Emi smiled. “I know.” She looked at the Wayfinder in her hand. “This thing; this ‘Wayfinder,’” she began. “Jet said that it would show us the way. That it will guide us through ‘the worlds of the night’ to the ‘hidden light’, whatever that means. He said that it’ll take us to them. Terra, Aqua, Ventus; Jet said that we can find them if we use this charm.”

                Lea raised an eyebrow. “So Jet brought this here?” he wondered. “That explains how it got here then; but how did _he_ get it?”

                Emi paused. “I don’t know. Do you think that Origin had it?”

                Lea shook his head. “I’m sure that Origin couldn’t touch something like that; Aqua’s magic and the friendship that surrounds it are too strong to be touched by such evil.”

                Emi studied the charm again before looking at the letter. She noticed it then, something that she hadn’t seen there…

                He hadn’t left the necklace, but he had left a reminder of it, a single star shape cut neatly out of the paper and replaced with a metallic sticker. She carefully folded the letter and put it in her pocket before she removed one of the clips from her hair. She had never noticed a detail before; she had always taken this gift for granted…

                Stars; a delicate star pattern covered the clip and at the far end of the stem there was a star punched out of the metal. Stars; Jet always talked about the stars and how he wished that Emi could see them. She always thought that he was crazy, but now that she had been out there, she had seen that those stars were real. She stared at the clip for several seconds before shoving it back into her hair.

                “Why were you studying that clip so closely?” Lea asked.

                Emi shook her head and shrugged. “I’d never noticed before that it had stars on it, so I thought I’d check and see. I mean, stars were always Jet’s thing. I’m not really surprised.”

                “Stars?” Lea questioned. “What’s so important about stars?”

                Emi looked at the Wayfinder in her hand for a moment. “He said that he wanted to take me to see the stars. I thought he was crazy. I mean, I thought stars were just a shape, a legend!” She sighed. “But I gave him a gift. I think I mentioned it before. I gave him a necklace.”

                “A star necklace?”

                “Well, sort of. It’s a bottle that holds a bunch of star shaped glitter inside.” She giggled. “I guess maybe it was a little girly, but he wears it anyway; or at least he always has. I hope that hasn’t changed.” She paused. “I told him that he should have the dreams that he always spoke of around his neck. I thought that maybe then they would never fade way… that our friendship would never fade away…”

                Lea was silent for a moment. “You know,” he finally said, “I guess that stars are a pretty common representation of friendship and hearts being connected,” he observed. “That Wayfinder in your hand; it’s supposed to symbolize Aqua, Terra, and Ventus’s hearts being connected for all time, an unbreakable connection…” He paused. “And there’s a star shaped fruit on the Destiny Islands, known as the paopu fruit, that when shared with someone is supposed to connect their hearts together forever. Though in the case off the fruit, it’s seen as a more romantic gesture.”

                “I still can’t believe it though,” Emi said. “Jet was right all along; about the other worlds, and about the stars being real! The sun never set on the Twilight Town we lived in. There was no chance to see the night sky!” She paused. “Wait, does the sun ever set on the real Twilight Town?” she wondered.

                Lea shook his head. “Nope. It’s always sunset, no matter what hour of the day. I always thought it was beautiful. I have never looked at it like you did. I never thought that the sunset could become boring.”

                Emi shrugged. “Like I said before; if the sunset changed, it would have been fine. Had the clouds shifted, if the colors faded in and out, I could have dealt with it.” She paused. “He’s right even now; I have a chance to experience it all. So I’m going to, and I’m going to tell him all about it when we get him back!”

                “That’s the spirit!” Lea cheered.

                Emi sighed. “I don’t know how this charm is supposed to help us find our way though.” She groaned. “I mean, what am I supposed to do, hold it up random places and see what happens?”

                “We’re not going anywhere without our stupid gummi ship. It’s not safe. I mean, what if we get lost or stuck?” Lea sounded annoyed to be the sensible one. “I mean, I hate the stupid things; they’re so tacky… but that doesn’t change the fact that they can keep us safe.”

                Emi shrugged. “I guess we should head back then.” She paused and looked back over at the mural across the room. “I wonder…”

                She crossed the room through the shallow water and faced the wall. She held the charm up to the mural. The wall glowed, and from inside it came an image. The image was of a castle in the distance over a large wooded expanse. Could this be their next destination? “Hey Lea,” she called.

                Lea rushed over. “What’s up?”

                Emi pointed at the image. “Is this a ‘world of the night’?” she asked.

                Lea studied it. “The Shrouded Castle,” he noted. “Yep. That would be one of them.”

                Emi nodded. “Then let’s go there next,” she proposed. “Maybe we’ll run into Jet again.”

                Lea shrugged. “You never know.”


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

(Emi)

                The place they ended up in looked tranquil and calm. The castle in the distance glowed a peaceful silver and the forest around was dark but comfortable, the trees covered in golden leaves. “What is it with all of the castles?” Emi wondered aloud.

                Lea shrugged. “Probably no connection, to be honest.” He paused. “I’ll warn you though; this world is a lonely world. There are no people here at all anymore. It’s like the light lingers here from something. What that something is, I haven’t a clue,” Lea explained.

                “No people?” Emi puzzled. “But this place… it doesn’t feel empty.”

                Lea nodded. “There’s life here, just not human life.” He gestured around. “You can hear the bugs and the birds. You know it’s not empty.” He looked around. “But there’s not even any way to get to that castle. It’s blocked even to the corridors of darkness. It’s so strange; it’s like it’s not even there.”

                “I wonder… could it be an illusion?” Emi pondered. She knew that Lea had no answer, so she didn’t further question it. Instead, she began walking down the dark and tree lined path. The stars could be seen little though the trees, but the few patches she saw were denser with them and brighter than ever. The moonlight was all that lit the darkened forest pathway. The leaves on the ground were fallen in reds and oranges and yellows. It was rather beautiful here, and much like the other places they had been, Emi was thinking that Jet would love it.

                The birds and bugs were indeed noisy and the otherwise quiet night was not lonely because of them. Well, that and she had Lea there to keep her company, but the point stood. This land was dark, but it wasn’t creepy. It was bizarre and exhilarating and Emi could find no explanation for any of it. “You know,” she began, “it’s kind of nice here.”

                Lea looked over. “Maybe.” He laughed. “I’m more of a civilization kind of guy though. I don’t usually like this whole ‘out in the open thing’ like this.” He smiled. “But maybe it’s nice for a change.”

                Emi shrugged. “The stars are beautiful,” she marveled, “and it looks like there are more of them.”

                Lea shook his head. “There aren’t. I’s just that there’s less ‘light pollution’ or whatever it’s called.”

                “Oh! I’ve read about that!” Emi cheered. “It’s the thing where there is too much light to see things that can only be seen in the darkness.”

                Lea shrugged. “I guess.”

                “But you know,” Emi said, “it’s so weird here. It’s so different. I mean, everything everywhere is different for me right now, but I feel like I’m safe here. I hadn’t felt that way recently.”

                “Good I think?” Lea decided. “I mean, I hope that you know I’ll keep you safe.”

                “Yeah, I know that I’m safe with you,” Emi assured, “but I just don’t feel as safe outside of my illusion. I guess I was kind of ‘sheltered’ for lack of a more accurate word.” She smiled. “Jet always tried to tell the truth, but hearing it and seeing it are two different things. Besides, I always brushed him off.”

                “You feel pretty bad about that, don’t you?” Lea noted.

                “Yeah…” she admitted.

                “Well, don’t worry so much about it. I’m sure he’ll forgive you.” He grinned. “Hopefully he’ll have the guts to give you the whole ‘I told you so’ spiel, but I know he’ll forgive you in the end.”

                Emi smiled too. “I bet he will,” she agreed. “He’s really nice; but I imagine it’ll get a half-hearted laugh.”

                “Well, it’s all fine and well to think about you friends,” Lea began, “but we need to focus on figuring out how to help him, and reminiscing only does so much.”

                Emi laughed. “Sorry. Sorry. I just don’t have anything else to talk about, really,” she apologized. “My little illusion was mainly held together by Jet; but I guess I didn’t realize how literal that really was.” She sighed as she paused for long enough to look up at the dark sky. It was amazing how small she felt looking up at the bright stars. She knew how much Jet loved the stars. She couldn’t help but wonder where he was; wherever he was, would he be staring up at the same sky? All of the worlds shared the same sky, right? That was how it was…

                “Come on, Emi,” Lea called. “We need to keep moving. The sooner we figure everything out, the better, right?”

                She looked over and nodded. “You’re right!” she agreed. She started to follow him more quickly. He was right. The sooner they figured this out, the sooner they could help everyone. Aqua, Terra, Ventus, Jet; each one of them was waiting for she and Lea to find them. They had waited long enough, hadn’t they?

                Crossing through the dark woods was simple enough; there was a path that cut through it. She wouldn’t have imagines such, given how empty this world seemed. She wondered what had made it and how long it had been this way. Was it something bizarre with no explanation? The path was smooth and even. How had it been made? Had some strange animal come down this path every single day, or was it some kind of magic lingering in the night?

                She had so many questions, so many things that she wanted to know and she knew that Lea could not answer them. And even if he could he was probably sick of all of her questions. Surely it was getting annoying. Like he was tired of her talking about Jet; surely the questions were tiring as well.

                “Why are you so quiet all of the sudden?” Lea broke her train of thought.

                “Hmm?” she hummed. “Oh, you know. You said to stop talking about Jet. I don’t know what else to talk about.”

                Lea looked relieved, but he sighed. “I didn’t mean you had to stop talking about him,” he explained. “You didn’t have to get so quiet. You weren’t annoying me.”

                Emi shrugged. “I’m sure you’re tired of questions and I know that’s all else I have to talk about. I’ve got to be pretty boring…” She crossed her arms as she walked.

                Lea shook his head. “You’re not boring, I promise you that. And ask as many questions as you like. It’s kind of nice, actually.”

                Emi shrugged. “I don’t know what to ask right now, either. Everything’s so strange here, so magical. I know that you don’t have an answer for why that might be, so why bother asking?”

                “Oh.” Lea frowned. “Okay then. Just making sure I’m not upsetting you.”

                “No,” Emi assured. “It’s all good. I guess I’m just…” she trailed off. “I guess I just don’t know what to do with myself these days. I mean, I know our goal, but I don’t know how we’re going to get there.” She paused. “Are we going to go to every single world? What if Jet doesn’t leave us any more clues? What are we supposed to do when all of the hints run out?”

                “If we have to, we will go to every world,” Lea said. “We’re not giving up on finding them all.”

                Emi smiled. She was relieved to hear it. She had been afraid that maybe Lea would grow tired of the search and might leave her all alone to figure it out on her own. “Thanks, Lea,” she said gratefully. And she meant it.

                But there was something about this world, something that felt so familiar, something that seemed to draw every bit of her attention. “I wonder what’s going on here,” Emi thought. “I mean, why would Jet direct us here?” They started walking again.

                “Well,” Lea said, “he didn’t, really. It just so happened that this is where they Wayfinder showed us to go. He gave us the Wayfinder. He told us about the ‘worlds of the night’… _I_ have to wonder how he knows all of these things.”

                “Hmm…” Emi paused. “I never really questioned how Jet knew things. I just accepted that he did and maybe even took it for granted. I mean, I don’t know what was going on in his head.” She sighed. “I just want him to be safe. He could help us. I know that he could. We have to find him. If we find him, then we can find the others.”

                Lea nodded. “I get the feeling that you’re right,” he admitted. “Jet seems very wise; I’m sure he’ll be great once Origin isn’t controlling him anymore.”

                “Jet is great,” Emi agreed. “In the meantime, all we have is what he told us and what the Wayfinder showed us. We have no idea where we’re going now that we’re here. I wish that we did. I wish this was all easier.” She paused. “I wish that everything was as simple as it was back in the illusion.”

                Lea looked back at her. “You don’t _really_ wish that, do you?” he asked. “Wasn’t it boring?”

                Emi shook her head. “I don’t _think_ I really mean it, but things certainly weren’t boring either.” She smiled. “I have a hard time believing it could have been an illusion. Everything was always changing, the world around me moving. There was always something new happening in the town with at least one person. Every person had their own life and their own stories. I wasn’t close to everyone, but the ones that I was were kind and unique.” She paused. “If Jet made all that… I can’t imagine what he’s capable of.”

                Lea stared for a moment. “I hadn’t thought of that,” he worried. “I hope that we can get him out of Origin’s control soon; not just because we want to save him as quickly as we can, but for the sake of everyone around us. If Origin uses that power…”

                “It could be very, very bad,” Emi acknowledged.

                The path came to a crossroads, and neither side showed any sign of anything in the distance. “Well,” Emi said as she crossed her arms. “Which way do we go?”

                Lea shrugged. “Flip a coin?” he offered.

                “I don’t have a coin,” she deadpanned. “I guess we go to the left. If there’s nothing, we can turn around.”

                “I don’t want to get lost,” Lea stated. “We have to remember where the gummi ship is. I don’t want to be stuck in this place forever. Unlike you, it gives me the creeps.”

                “Come on, what’s so creepy about it?” Emi teased. “It’s so peaceful!”

                “Too peaceful if you ask me,” Lea explained. Just then there was a noise in the woods around them. “What was that?” he asked hurriedly while summoning his Keyblade.

                Emi looked around worriedly. She was searching for the source of the strange noise but she wasn’t seeing anything at first glance. “I’m sure it’s just a squirrel or something, Lea, don’t worry too much about—“

                In that moment a giant heartless jumped out of the brush in front of them. It resembled a bat with large purple wings, a black body, a heartless emblem on its chest, and of course, glowing yellow eyes. The creature flew over them a few times while emitting a strange chirping noise. “What in the world?” Emi startled as she drew her Keyblade. The white runs on the blue sword seemed to glow in the serene moonlight. She prepared to attack as the creature flew at her.

                Lea jumped into action, darting behind the creature and trying to reach it; but it flew too high in the air. No, this was going to take a different approach, and apparently Lea had one. With a simple swoosh, flames came from his Keyblade and at the monster.

                “Stop, Lea!” Emi cried. “The leaves! They’re too dry!” Emi could imagine the entire forest ablaze from a poorly placed spell.

                Lea stopped and looked around. “Right!” he resigned. “But what’s out plan B?”

                “Do you have other magic?” she asked in a rush as she prepared a thunder spell of her own but she switched. The lightning could strike the leaves much like the fire and the spark could ignite the foliage into a burning inferno as quickly as any flame could. She adjusted her magic; she chose an ice spell. It shouldn’t cause any real danger…

                Lea shook his head. “I’m terrible with most magic!” he explained. “Fire’s my specialty.”

                Emi shook her head. “Then watch my back, okay? I’ve got this!”

                Lea looked worried, but he knew he had no other choice. “Alright, but be careful!”

                “I’ll try to knock it down where you can hit it,” she offered as she struck the bat with ice. “In the meantime, can you just make sure nothing else is going to jump out at us?”

                “Yeah!” He carefully watched their surroundings.

                Emi returned her attention to the flying foe, and she hit it with more ice. Ice wasn’t her specialty like thunder was, but ice would do and she could control it more easily than water or wind. Wind could also blow the leaves into the air and make it difficult to see anything that was going on. That wouldn’t work to her advantage in any way at all.

                But even the ice made the leaves slippery. The golden carpet on the ground served only as a handicap in battle, the beauty that it held fading away in her frustration. Still, she pressed on. She had to defeat this foe on her own. Lea couldn’t help her this time. It wasn’t fair! Fighting on her own wasn’t something she was used to and it wasn’t something she wanted to become familiar with. It was down-right terrifying!

                Dodging the creature’s lightning fast dives wasn’t the simplest task either. She had to slide out of the way, and the leaves were slippery and made it more difficult. But maybe she could use it to her advantage. One carefully timed slide led to her landing perfectly behind the bat and allowed her to get another strike from behind before it had a chance to dodge back in the air. This was going better than Emi ever could have imagined. Maybe she could get used to this fighting thing after all.

                One final blast of ice dissolved the creature into a burst of black dust. She took several deep breaths and watched all around them, the adrenaline in her veins making her heard pound strongly and forcing her senses into overdrive.

                “Alright!” Lea cheered. “Way to go Emi!”

                Emi took several more deep breaths to try to regain her composure. It was a simple enough task, surely, to just gain her bearings once more. Finally, finally her heart and lungs calmed down enough for her to smile back at Lea. “Thanks!” she acknowledged. Her heart still thundered in her head. The fear that had filled her was as much the cause as the physical strain of battle. She had been so afraid. She was fighting alone, and she wasn’t just fighting for herself. What if something had happened to her? Lea couldn’t safely defend himself amongst this tinder. What would he have done? Would he have been able to defeat the bat?

                “Are you okay, Emi?” Lea worried when she was quiet for so long.

                “Me?” She laughed. “I’m fine. No worries.”

                He raised an eyebrow skeptically. “What’s wrong, are you hurt?” he pressed.

                “No,” she assured. “Not a scratch. It’s just that…” She trailed off.

                “Just what?” he pressured.

                “What if I hadn’t been able to defeat it?” she admitted her worry. “What if something had happened?”

                “Hey, calm down. Nothing was going to happen,” he promised.

                Emi shook her head. “But what if you were alone? This dry foliage; your fire could have ignited this whole forest if you had to fight on your own!” She was trying not to panic, but she was protective of Lea. “What if something had happened to you? What then? Who would save Jet, and my mom and dad, and Ventus?”

                Lea shook his head. “You’re fine. Nothing bad happened. You need to relax.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. Okay?”

                Emi sighed. She slowly nodded. He was right, after all. Nothing had happened. Her panic was over something that would never come to be, at least in this battle. The foliage that she had seen as dangerous moments before returned to being a beautiful spectacle. She took in the relaxing air, the peace and quiet of the world around her settling back into her spirt. “It’s going to be okay,” she repeated.

                “That’s right!” Lea said. “I told you that I’ll take care of you… but I guess this time you had to take care of me.”

                “Ha!” Emi joked. “You’re right. I guess I’m better than you are, and I thought that you were the best!”

                “Hey now, you’re not better than me at everything yet!” Lea defended. “You’re still training.”

                “I know. I know. I’m just joking,” she explained.

                Lea grinned. “I didn’t know. I thought you might be after that depressed attitude earlier. You were so serious then…”

                “I know,” she said. “And I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be so down in the dumps. I mean, we’re both okay. You’re right. There’s nothing we need to worry about right now.”

                Lea grinned. “In that case, let’s get moving!” he suggested. “Though, I’m still not sure where we’re supposed to go…”

                Emi examined the leaves beneath their feet carefully. She thought she had seen something there a moment ago… She moved the leaves around with her shoes and there was something among them. That something was a necklace. She picked it up. “Hey Lea,” she said. “What do you think this is?” It was a simple silver ‘x’. The sides were pointed into spikes after being brought in so that it resembled a weapon of some kid. She examined it carefully while Lea walked over.

                Lea suddenly yanked it unceremoniously out of her hands. “How could I drop this?” he panicked. “I thought it was around my neck!” He reached up and put his hand there… and it was. He looked between the one on his neck and the one in his hand. “What the hell?”

                Emi tilted her head. “They’re the same,” she said. “Lea, what’s going on here?”

                Lea shook his head. “That necklace; it belonged to Roxas,” he explained. “I don’t know how a second one could possibly be here.”

                Emi took the copy back. She turned it over. She held it up in the moonlight and she was surprised by what she saw in the light reflecting off of it. “Stars…” she breathed. She held it so that Lea could see. “It’s stars…”

                Lea studied the fake skeptically. “Do you mean you think…?” He paused. “Do you think that Jet left it here?”

                She shook her head. “As far as I know, he didn’t have a necklace like this,” she stated. She paused. Did he? Her mind searched for her answer. He had a necklace before she gave him the bottle of stars, didn’t he? But why couldn’t she remember what it was? It was a simple silver chain much as this one was and it was only a subtle charm. He kept it hidden beneath his shirt, placed over his heart. But when she gave him the bottle of stars, the old pendant disappeared. She shook her head. “I don’t remember. He had a necklace before the one I gave him, but I couldn’t tell you what it was,” she admitted. “I’m sorry.”

                “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” Lea looked around. He held the copy in his hand for another moment. “Say Emi; what happened to the Wayfinder?”

                She pulled it out of her pocket. “Why?” she requested. But as the charm neared the necklace, the Wayfinder began to glow. “What?” she wondered. From the top of the Wayfinder came a light. That light pointed across the forest and into the distance to a tree near the center of the path. A blue line highlighted the path so they knew the direction they must go. “This way then?” she suggested as she started following the glow.

                Lea followed quickly behind. “What is it with necklaces? Do you think Jet set this situation up too?” he asked.

                Emi shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe…” She hesitated. “Well, probably to be honest. Jet was always going things like that.” She looked at the tree as they drew near it. There was what appeared to be a mirror in the bark. “And… Jet acted like he knows where they are, or at least how to get there. I bet he set this for us to find. You’re right.”

                Lea followed quickly behind her, and when they reached the tree, he examined it carefully. He looked around. “This is so weird,” he said.

                Emi nodded. When she looked in what she had believed to be a mirror, she found that it was a window instead. “What’s through there?” she questioned as she pointed at the window.

                Lea looked through to see what was inside. “Wait. That’s—“ He stopped mid-sentence. “I know that place.”

                Emi looked at the strange castle through the window. It was yellow with a green roof, and all in all, it didn’t look fancy or impressive in any way shape or form. Yet Lea seemed to be almost afraid of it. “What is it?” she worried.

                Lea shook his head. “Castle Oblivion.” He looked very concerned. “Does he mean that they’re there?”

                Emi blinked. “I don’t know? Is it bad if that’s what he’s trying to say?” she asked.

                Lea slowly nodded. “Yes. It’s very bad,” he agreed. “It’s very, very bad.” He looked like he had seen a ghost. “Why do we have to go there?” he demanded. “Why couldn’t it be somewhere else; _anywhere_ else!”

                Emi was worried now. “Is it really that bad?” she wondered. “I mean…”

                “It can be,” Lea explained. “We don’t know if Origin’s using it, and if he is, then yes, it is a really bad place.” He sighed. “It’s a place of illusion—“ He paused. “Each level can become the illusion of a world. I really hope that isn’t what Jet’s trying to say. I don’t want to have to deal with that kind of thing right now. The last thing we need is more complications.”

                Emi groaned. “Lea; if it’s where we need to go, we have to!” she insisted. “There’s simply no way around it! We don’t know how much it could help us! We have to follow Jet’s clues: what other choice do we have?”

                Lea stood there silently, mouth in a tight line for several seconds. Finally, he sighed. “I guess you’re right,” he admitted.

                “How do we get there, anyway?” Emi wondered.

                “Maybe the window will let us through,” Lea suggested. “It used to be able to be accessed through corridors of darkness; but we can’t use those to get there. It’s not safe.”

0o0o0

(Jet)

                Jet hoped that they would be able to find the clue on their own. He had tried his best to make it obvious, and Emi wasn’t stupid… Then again, the leaves were falling in gentle cascades when he had placed the necklace. It could be lost… He hoped beyond hope that it wasn’t the case. That necklace… even if it was a copy, it meant a lot to him. He didn’t want to lose it, and he wouldn’t have left it if he hadn’t had to. But he had to make something open the path and he _absolutely_ would not use his bottle of stars.

                That necklace that Emi had given him meant the world to him. It reminded him of everything they had been through, of everything that their lives had brought to them and what remained. The necklace; the bottle of stars… it had always symbolized the dreams he never believed he would reach, and now… he knew that he would not reach them, but he was _so close_ that he could taste it. It wasn’t fair.

                “I know how it is,” he muttered from the other side of the mirror as he closed the portal behind him. “Life isn’t fair… I’ve always told Emi that. I know that it’s true, so what difference does it make? I always knew that I wasn’t real…”

                They had to find this clue. Castle Oblivion… it wasn’t their destination, but it was a brief gateway of illusion to where they must go. It was part of the journey that they couldn’t avoid. To reach where they must go, they must be nearby. They had to face whatever trials that lie in wait. What those trials were, he was unsure. He didn’t know everything in this world of reality. It was honestly unsettling. He was so used to knowing absolutely every detail that happened when it did. He wondered if he ever would get used to it… but then again, he wouldn’t get a chance to.

                He turned around and looked at the castle behind him. This castle; it looked nothing like the intimidating force it was. Admittedly, there was a dark aura about it, but that didn’t even begin to cover the horrors it held. Though, this too was simply another illusion.

                And Jet… Jet wished that he could help them through what would come. He wished that he didn’t have to go away from here. He wished that he could stay… but if he went back to Emi, the illusion would never end. He was an illusion, so what difference did it make anyway? It didn’t matter what he did, and it never would.

                “How did you escape?” he heard a silky voice say from behind him. “How did you manage to find your way out of that void? You are nothing, much as that place,” Origin repeated his oft spoke speech.

                “Origin,” Jet acknowledged his presence. “I was wondering when you’d notice. I’m honestly surprised it took this long.” He turned around with a smirk. “Perhaps that means that you aren’t as powerful as you claim.” He was furious with Origin. Origin had ruined everything for him, and he was about to do it again… it just wasn’t fair.

                Origin glared fiercely. “That void serves you well,” he growled. “That emptiness; that nothingness; that is your fate. You’d best return to where you belong.”

                “No way!” Jet yelled as he backed away.

                “Like you have a choice,” Origin said with a laugh. “You’ve never had any choice in anything you’ve ever done.”

                “Yes I have!” Jet disagreed. “I made every decision inside of that illusion!” he proclaimed. “I may not be real, but at least I have control of my life.”

                “And how, pray tell, do you suppose you arrived in this realm at all?” Origin taunted. “That wasn’t of your own accord. You’ve belonged to me from the beginning.”

                Jet felt himself being tugged away from reality. “No!” he yelled. “I’m not going to go away! You can’t make me!”

                “Oh, but I can.” Origin chuckled. “I simply hope that you don’t hold it against me.”

                “What do you care?” Jet snapped. “You’re just a memory! You’re no better than I am!”

                The last thing he saw before everything faded to black was the look of shock and hurt on Origin’s face.

                But maybe… maybe Origin hadn’t ruined _everything…_

                If it weren’t for Origin, he would never have known Emi; and knowing Emi… that was enough to make even this nightmare worth it.

                Even if he never made it out of that void… he had lived. That was enough. He had lived a life… a real life… even if he was only an illusion.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super long chapter.

Chapter 9

(Emi)

                Emi went to touch the window and felt herself being sucked in towards it. She grabbed hold of Lea’s arm. “Lea! What’s happening?” she panicked.

                “Heck if I know!” Lea exclaimed. He tried to hold onto her and keep her on this side…

                But instead, both of them were pulled through the window and to the place they had been intended to go. “Lea?” Emi worried once they were safely on the ground. “Are you okay?”

                Lea nodded. “I’m fine,” he assured. “What about you?”

                She nodded too. “I’m perfectly okay.” She looked around. “Is this Castle Oblivion?” She pointed at the nearby castle.

                “Yeah,” Lea confirmed. “The outside of it at least.” He shook his head. “Here’s to hoping that we never have to step foot inside. I don’t feel like dealing with that place today. Always gave me the creeps, you know?”

                Emi looked at the castle. She felt more uneasy with every glance she sent its direction. “I can see why,” she agreed. She turned around to look at the area. “I wonder why we came here.”

                Lea was searching for some way back through the portal. “I guess we’re toast,” he resigned. “There’s no way back, and our gummi ship is on the other side.” He groaned. “Just my luck.”

                “Cheer up,” Emi told him. “It can’t be that bad. We’ll make it back. Got it memorized?” she put her finger to her forehead as she had seen him do so many times and put on her goofiest grin.

                Lea smiled. “That’s my line!” he mock complained with a laugh.

                “Yeah, yeah,” she giggled. “You know, you might be rubbing off on me.”

                He shook his head. “Maybe you can cheer this place up,” he offered. “All it needs is some of that laughter.”

                Emi shrugged. She walked over towards the door. “Let’s go in!” she suggested. “I don’t know what else we could do anyway.”

                Lea looked around searching for something, anything at all that they could do rather than to go to that door. “I really hate this place,” he repeated. “I want to get as far away from here as possible as soon as we can.”

                “But there’s nowhere else to go!” she complained. “Please?” she begged. “I want to find everyone. I want to find my parents, I want to find Ven… and we have to help Jet! We have to move on, okay?” she frowned. “We can’t let fear stop us!”

                Lea flinched. “That’s a dangerous thing to say, Emi,” Lea said slowly. “But you’re right,” he admitted. “There isn’t any other option here.”

                Emi grinned. “I know you’re nervous,” she said, “but it really is going to be okay. What happened to all of those pep talks you keep giving me?” she teased.

                “Sure, sure,” Lea said, but the frown remained on his face. “I only wish that things were going differently.”

                “What can it hurt to touch the door?” Emi wondered as she raised her hand to the giant wooden structure.

                The moment her hand touched the door, there was a burst of darkness that surrounded them and the castle they had seen faded away in a rain of what looked like dark shards of glass. Emi stared at the emptiness that surrounded them. “That could happen!” Lea snapped.

                Emi looked around the area. There was nothing to either side, but they were in a bright open area. The light shone a pinkish purple and seemed to come from below rather than above as the edges faded into darkness in the sky. The ground seemed transparent, like they were walking on the sky. But there was an obvious surface beneath them that was solid and strong. “Where are we?” she wondered hesitantly. She looked around in search of something, _anything_ in the distance to be seen… but there was nothing.

                “Now what do we do?” Lea groaned. “I don’t know where we are or how we got here. I don’t know how we’re going to get out of here. We have no way out!”

                Emi shook her head. “Maybe there’s some way back to that forest world,” she offered. “There has to be something.” But she was worried; what if she had gotten them into bigger trouble than she ever could have imagined? What if this was the end of their journey and it was her fault? She sighed. “I’m sorry, Lea; I never should have touched that door.”

                Lea’s mouth was in a tight line from stress. He sighed. “It’s not your fault,” he finally broke the silence. “I should have stopped you… and you had no idea what would happen.” He looked resigned. “I just hate this. I wish that we could find them so that things could get back to normal!”

                Emi froze at that word. She would never get that again. “My ‘normal’ is gone, Lea,” Emi realized slowly.

                Lea looked startled by her sorrowful tone. “Emi?”

                “My life that I knew; that was _normal_ to me,” she explained to both him and herself. “The life before Origin put me in that illusion is only a distant memory. That Twilight Town where I lived; that was my home. That illusion was my reality.” She was saddened. “I’ll never get that back,” she resigned. Why was she sad about that? She was free now… That was a good thing, right? Right; it was a wonderful thing. But she wanted to go back to that world, she wanted to climb into her bed under the blankets surrounded by pillows, grab her phone and call up Jet so that he could come over and they could watch a movie… but that would never happen again. “I…” She didn’t know what else to say, so she fell silent.

                Lea frowned. “You’re sad about that?” he puzzled. It was obvious that he was trying to understand. And after a moment, he nodded. “I get it,” he realized. “You only want it because it was what you knew…” He shook his head. “And I’m sorry that that reality wasn’t really yours.”

                Emi looked up from where she was staring at the ground and started walking. “Well; I guess there’s no time like the present,” she decided. “We have to get moving.”

                He slowly nodded and started to follow her. “I wish we knew where we were going,” he said. “It would be nice to have some idea of what’s going on.”

                Emi sighed and her shoulders fell. “I’m sorry, Lea,” she apologized. She turned around. “This is the way we came from, right?” she asked.

                He nodded. “It is,” he confirmed, “at least; I think.”

                Emi smiled. She was trying to be optimistic, but it was harder than ever. “Then we start this way! Maybe we’ll stumble onto another portal, right?”

                Lea shrugged. “Who knows?” He sighed. “Let’s go.”

                They had been walking for several minutes when Emi felt stirring inside her brain. “Ow,” she muttered as she looked around, putting her hand on her head. Lea didn’t seem to be noticing anything. It was probably just a regular old headache coming on. Nothing to worry about and nothing worth mentioning, right? The lighting was just weird. It was just a migraine.

                Well, that was what she believed before she began to lose sight of the present and instead memories zoomed across her vision. “Lea?” she called out though she couldn’t see or hear anything. “What’s going on?” She tried to turn around in a circle, but she couldn’t move.

                In her mind, memories of her childhood zoomed past. Well, they were memories inside of the illusion, but memories none the less. Visions of games and parties and school with Jet; memories of times she could only imagine having come to pass…

                She felt Lea’s hand on her shoulder and the images stopped.

                “What?” Origin demanded in outrage as he appeared from within the light. “That’s impossible!”

                “What in the world are you talking about?” Lea growled. “What did you do to her?”

                “Nothing, apparently.” Origin looked shocked and a bit disgusted. “How—how do you have no bad memories… at all?”

                “Bad memories…” Emi wondered.

                “Nothing. No nightmares, no true fear… how is that even possible?” Origin took a few steps back. “Surely there is something that you fear from your past!”

                Emi felt the sensation again. “Hey!” she yelled. “Get out of my head!” She put her hands to her head. She felt Lea let go of her shoulder, and she knew that he was going to try to stop Origin from doing whatever he was attempting.

0o0o0

(Jet)

                In the void, Jet was left with only his thoughts. But in the distance he heard something. “How do you have no bad memories?” he heard Origin question.

                “Bad memories…” he heard Emi mutter.

                Memories… Jet’s thoughts trailed off into the distance. “Emi has no bad memories…” his inner voice stated. “Why could that be?” He searched what he knew had happened to her…

                And he remembered. “Of course Emi doesn’t have anything to fear; she had everything she ever wanted!” Jet yelled into the darkness hoping Origin would hear. “Because I made sure of it! I made sure she had nothing to be afraid of. Emi had everything she ever wanted… Her life had to be perfect!”

(Memories)

                He made the decision when he and Emi first met; Jet would give her everything he couldn’t have. She was such a lovely person; beautiful in so many ways. She was kind and strong hearted and he felt terrible that she was there at all. She didn’t deserve to become a guest in his personal prison.

                It wasn’t like Jet could make things in the illusion into what he desired… he knew that what he made wasn’t real. He knew that the images he would create were fictional… he had been there long enough to know that. Yes, Jet couldn’t have what he wanted… but Emi…

                Emi was stuck here too, but she was real. She had a chance if he could make it for her. Origin was forcing him to trap her in the illusion, but like hell he was going to let it be torture! Jet would _never_ want that for anyone! He wouldn’t want anyone to have to live in a world of silence like he did. And so Emi’s world was perfect.

…

                “Mom?” Jet asked the figure by the clock tower. The dark-haired woman smiled sadly at him. The young child smiled and ran over. He pulled her into a tight hug. “Mommy?” he asked once more. But no voice came when he looked up at her and saw the movements he longed to see. She was saying that she loved him; he could tell that much… because it was what he wanted to hear her say.

                He sighed. “No… you’re not my Mommy… She can’t really be here.” He looked out into the distance, searching for any sign of Emi around. She couldn’t see this. This would freak her out. “But I wanted to see her. I wanted to see Xion…” He frowned. “I wish that you could really be here, but I know that you’re gone. I know that this isn’t really you… If it were, I would be able to hear you. But I can’t.”

                He looked up at the face smiling down at him. That smile, those eyes; he wished he could see them for real. He missed her and Roxas so much. Why had Origin had to take him away? Why couldn’t Origin send him back to them? Emi could live without him there… “I’ll never see you again…” he told the figment of his imagination. “But… I can give Emi what I couldn’t have…”

                He closed his eyes knowing full well that this illusion would be gone when he opened them.

                But instead of looking back, he turned around and faced the two new figures behind him. “Timothy and Angela.” The two brunettes with eyes as blue as Emi’s smiled at him. “You’re Emi’s parents now.” The pair walked over to him. “You’ll meet her soon. She’ll love you. I know she will… and she’ll never know the difference. She never does.” Jet smiled up at them. “Will you make her happy and be what she wants you to be? I want her to have parents to love her.” The images smiled and nodded, their mouths moving to an affirmative. Jet smiled in relief. “Thank you.” They slowly walked towards Emi’s house.

                “I can’t have a family. I can’t hear anyone but Emi. I never will be able to.” Jet looked around the now empty courtyard. “But Emi… she can believe in this lie. She doesn’t know the truth.” He laughed quietly. “I wonder if she’ll even know that they were ever not there.” He tilted his head. “I wonder…”

                He looked around the courtyard and one by one, new figures appeared. A smile crossed his face. “You’re the shopkeeper. Your name is Jody,” he addressed a woman. “You love to plant and grow flowers, but that’s not your specialty. You are married to Joe.” He pointed at a man. The man walked over too. “Joe, you’re the shoemaker. You love to play guitar in your free time.”

                One by one, Jet addressed the new illusions. They had no voices to him, but he knew what they would say. He formed each one a new story in his mind, a life’s history written in a single second, able to be edited at a single whim. “You are now the citizens of this Twilight Town,” he told them. “Please; go about your lives that I have told you. Make Emi think things are real… let her be happy…”

                There was no reason she shouldn’t be able to be happy. She might be trapped here too, but… she didn’t know the truth, and ignorance was bliss in this land of nothing.

…

                “You want to go to the beach?” Jet asked Emi warily. They were preteens now, and Emi liked to explore. It was a bit tiring.

                “Yeah!” she cheered. “We’ve never been there. Come on, I’ve seen the signs! Mom and Dad say it’s fine!” The smile on her face was brighter than ever, her blue eyes sparkling and her hair a mess from running to find him. And as always, her voice rang sweetly in his ears. It was always a pleasure to hear her. “It will be fun.”

                The signs. Why had Jet made signs? He paused before slowly nodding. The beach. What did a beach look like, and how would they get there? If he could figure it out… Well, would she know the difference anyway if it wasn’t accurate? “Sure Emi,” he agreed after a moment. “We’ll get on the train in a few minutes. I need to grab a few things.”

                “Like what? Can I help?” she offered.

                Jet smiled. “Yes!” He was halfway celebrating distracting her. “Go to your house and get some water. I’ll buy some sunscreen and a beach ball. This will be so fun!”

                “Right!” Emi smiled before rushing off.

                After she left the scene, Jet’s smile faded. “How the heck am I supposed to make a beach?” he wondered. “What does a beach even feel like?” He searched his mind. Maybe there was something there, something lingering from Xion that could help him with this. He had to make Emi a beach! There was no other option. Emi wanted a beach, so Emi was getting a beach!

                Sand! Sand was grainy but soft and warm. The sea smelled salty; like sea salt ice cream. Salty but sweet. The sky would be the same. The ocean would be warm and calm. The sea would shine a beautiful hue reflecting the orange of the sky. It would be wonderful! The beach would be fun, there wouldn’t have to be too many people. Jet smiled as the image formed in his mind. It was perfect.

                “Everything has to be perfect for Emi,” he repeated his frequent mantra. Emi had to be happy. She was real. She deserved the happiness that Origin had stolen from her! As he opened his eyes, a beach ball formed under his arm and sunscreen and towels appeared in a red and white striped bag in his other hand. He stood to wait for Emi to return, knowing that this would break up the monotony of the illusion if only for the day. She deserved a break. Heck, maybe he deserved a break too.

…

                “This is as wonderful as I imagined!” Emi marveled as they stepped off of the train.

                Jet smiled. Emi was happy. This took a lot of energy, but now that it was here, it was done. And it was perfect. Emi deserved that. Emi deserved perfect.

                “Come on, Jet! Let’s get in the water!” Emi called to him. He hurried off the train to join her.

                He wondered if the water felt right; he’d never felt an ocean before. He’d never felt anything at all, other than the warmth of Emi’s hugs and touches. Nothing would ever feel real to him. Only his eyes could be deceived. His heart, his ears, his body; they could never be fooled. The waves moved beneath him as if working properly, but how could he know? “It’s nice,” Jet decided, and he wasn’t referring to the water. It was the general nature here; it was calm, it was safe… he had done a good job with this illusion.

                “The water’s amazing!” Emi cried. “And the sand feels all grainy; but it’s soft. It’s so cool!”

                Jet smiled and nodded. “It’s peaceful here,” he suggested. He looked around. “I’m glad you talked me into this.” He knew that she didn’t know what exactly he meant by those words, and he didn’t really care. She was happy; and when Emi was happy, he was happy. If he could make their prison seem like Utopia, then he would do everything in his power to do so. He was tired now, but it was nothing a good night’s sleep wouldn’t fix. “It’s perfect.”

                Emi nodded. “It’s awesome! It’s so… different! It’s a nice change, you know?”

                Jet smiled and nodded. He did know. It did break up the monotony of life a bit. “I wonder why we haven’t come before?” he asked. Of course, he knew why; but the words would make sense to her and give her a feeling of accomplishment for convincing him to come here.

                “I don’t know!” Emi agreed. “I hadn’t thought to. I was just reading a book about sea life, and there was this picture of seashells.”

                Jet’s mind quickly conjured up some of the mentioned objects and they appeared across the beach. “Seashells, huh?” Jet pointed. “Like those?”

                Emi’s grin grew. “How’d you see those?” she marveled. “I must have missed them earlier!” She rushed over and picked them up. “They’re so rough,” she noted. “Just like the book said.” She brought them over and handed them to Jet. “Feel?”

                Jet acted like he did as instructed. “They are,” he claimed, sounding like it was odd to him. “Huh. Who would have thought? They looked so smooth in the text book.”

                Text books; text books would be the death of him, but he had to include them. They were normal. He had to make things as normal as possible so that she could transition more easily into reality the moment he could get her back there. It seemed far off now. He had no idea how it could ever happen, but he had to prepare her.

                That was why they sparred. That was why he told her stories about other worlds, why he told her about monsters and mysteries. He wanted her to have those things, and she would one day! He’d make sure of it! But in the meantime, he wanted everything here to be perfect for her!

                “Oh!” He reached into his bag. He pulled out a white hair bow.

                “What’s that?” Emi wondered.

                Jet smiled. “Your hair is getting so long. I thought you might like something to hold it back.”

                Emi looked skeptical. “Really? I’m not so sure about that.” She shook her head. “Wouldn’t that feel weird?”

                “Well, you don’t _have_ to wear it,” Jet resigned. He just wanted to make things more comfortable for her. “But it might be worth trying…”

                She shook her head. “No way. Not going to happen.”

                Jet frowned. “Keep it anyway?” he suggested. “Just in case you change your mind.”

                Emi fake pouted. “Okay Jet. But you know, you’re being weird again.”

                Jet laughed. “I’m always weird. You never let me forget that.”

                She put the bow in her bad under the umbrella. “Hey Jet…” she began cautiously.

                “Hmm?” he worried. “What’s up?”

                Emi looked away. “Thank you for always being here…” She sounded sad. “I always feel lonely when you’re not around. You’re my best friend, you know?”

                Jet smiled. He wished it weren’t that way, but even she was not immune to the burdens of the illusion. The others… they followed precise paths. They didn’t vary. “Thank you for being my sister, okay?”

                “I’m your sister?” she puzzled.

                “Not literally,” he explained. “But you know… you’re like one. You’re a good big sis, so you know. You’re awesome!”

                Emi grinned. “You know Jet; you’re a good brother too.” She shook her head. “Even if you’re a bit out there.”

                Jet smiled; but he was sad that this was all an illusion. One day, she would leave, and she would leave him behind in this empty world of voiceless faces going about their daily ‘lives’. He would be here alone… but it would be worth it.

                Emi deserved to be happy more than anyone ever could; because she had made _him_ happy. He had to return the favor. Everything had to be perfect for Emi, the most perfect person in the universe. She deserved that much at least, even if he couldn’t figure out how to help her to reality just yet. She deserved to be happy. She deserved to live.

…

                “You’re wearing the bow?” Jet asked Emi curiously. They sat together on the clock tower.

                Emi shrugged. “I felt like it,” she stated. “And you’re right; it does get my hair out of my face,” she admitted.

                Jet didn’t quite understand the look that was on her face… was the illusion failing; was _he_ failing? Was she finding out the truth? “Emi…”

                “What is it, Jet?” she wondered and her smile returned.

                Jet shook his head and smiled back. “It’s nothing.”

(Present)

                The bottle of stars… the stars shone like a light in the darkness. The bottle could be see where all else was black. The stars; Jet had always wanted to see the stars…

                Emi had given him this bottle. Emi; the one that he wanted everything to be perfect for. Emi. “Emi!” he called into the darkness. He had to stop Origin from hurting her. He had to! He grabbed onto the necklace. Maybe it would be like the Wayfinder that had guided him through the darkness before. The bottle of stars. The light in the darkness…

                He burst out of the darkness into the End of the World between Origin and Emi and Lea. “Origin,” Jet growled.

                “How the hell did you get out?” Origin demanded. “You couldn’t have broken through that prison… not without the Wayfinder!”

                “I’m tougher than I look.” Jet glared at Origin, standing up straighter and summoning his Keyblade. He was out of breath, but he was ready to go.

                “Jet!” Emi cheered. “You’re back! Jet!”

                Jet smiled at the sound of her voice, but he couldn’t turn around to face her. Origin could theoretically gain control at any moment. “Emi,” he said without turning. Time froze around them.

                “Jet…?” Emi asked cautiously as she looked at the frozen Lea. “What… what’s happening?”

                Jet finally turned to face her. “Emi, I can’t stay this way for long,” he apologized.

                “Jet?” Emi’s face fell. “What’s going on with you?” she asked dejectedly.

                Jet shook his head. “Emi; you have to get far away from here. Origin’s trying to use me against you! I don’t know how long I’ll be able to fight it; I don’t know if this plan will work!”

                “No.” She started to walk towards him. He put up a barrier to block her progress. “Come on, Jet. I can help you!”

                “No, Emi; run! Run while you can! You and Lea; you have to leave.” Jet sighed. “You have to get in there; get through the heart of this world. You’ll get there, and there will be another world, a castle of night. You’ll find them there!” Jet was having more and more trouble keeping this illusion together. This place was for foreign. He wanted to go with Emi, he really did! But he couldn’t. If he went with her, the illusion did too. “I’m not even real, Emi! Leave me behind; find your parents, and you can be happy!”

                “No Jet!” she cried as Jet walked towards Origin. “Jet! Stop!”

                Jet reached Origin and made a portal behind him. He shoved Origin through it and into the illusion; his illusion… “Hurry, Emi!” Jet yelled. “I can’t hold him off for long. Hurry and find them!”

                “Jet!” he heard Emi call as he stepped through the portal and broke the illusion he was leaving behind.

0o0o0

(Emi)

                Emi watched as everything returned to normal. Lea looked around quickly; he looked quite disoriented. “Where’s Origin?” he asked hurriedly as soon as he noticed the man was missing.

                Emi shook her head. “Jet took him somewhere,” she resigned. “Jet left and took him with him.”

                Lea shook his head. “No offence, but just what _is_ Jet?” he wondered. “Origin said he’s a figment; less than a dream, more than a wish. But what does that mean?”

                Emi shrugged. “I think Origin’s said it before; I was in an illusion before I found you,” she explained. “And I think Jet made that illusion. I think he held that entire town together; he made everything.” She paused. Her eyes widened. “The beach!” she remembered. “I know that he had to have made the beach!”

                “The beach?” Lea raised an eyebrow.

                “One day, I decided I wanted to go to the beach,” she began. “He looked so worried that I wanted to, and he was hesitant to agree. But he finally did. He sent me away to get something… I don’t remember what it was.” She paused. “But when I got back to the train station, there was a different train there. I didn’t think much of it, but looking back, it was new. He… he made me a beach… the sand and the water… it was all so real.”

                Lea looked shocked. “I don’t know how someone can hold that powerful of an illusion for so long,” he said. “And when things froze for that minute… I was on the clock tower with Roxas and Xion.”

                “You… you were?” Emi puzzled.

                “I was. And it wasn’t real, but it wasn’t a memory.” Lea signed. “We were talking about all sorts of things that happened recently. But it wasn’t like a dream, either. It was like I was there.”

                “You think that Jet put you there?” Emi wondered aloud. “You think that Jet gave you an illusion to distract you?”

                Lea slowly nodded. “Yeah; I do think that,” he agreed. “I don’t know how that’s possible.”

                Emi sighed. “He always said that he was happy to see me happy…” She smiled. “Origin asked about bad memories; I have none, because Jet wouldn’t let me.” She paused. “Even if it was an illusion, Jet helped me be happy. He… he made things perfect.” She looked down. “I wonder if he made all of those people; my mom and dad there, the townspeople… I wonder if he made the beach the moment I asked about it. I… I wonder just how much he can do.”

                Lea shook his head. “I have a feeling that it’s less what he ‘can’ do and more what he ‘would’ do.” Lea paused. “I don’t think he’s dangerous, but I wouldn’t hesitate to say he could be.”

                “Jet’s not dangerous!” Emi protested.

                “Didn’t you hear me?” Lea grumbled. “I said that he isn’t dangerous. All I meant was that we have to keep Origin from getting to him again. Just imagine what he could make him do!”

                Emi gulped. She hadn’t thought of that. “I… That’s worrisome,” she agreed. She couldn’t let Origin do anything to Jet! She just couldn’t! “We have to get him back.” She shook her head. “He knows that he’s dangerous; that’s why he’s trying to stay away.”

                Lea sighed. “We will get him back. Maybe I need to get that memorized for myself now. I think I keep forgetting.”

                “You can’t forget!” Emi insisted. “You’re the one who says that I need to keep hope. You need to do it too. You said that you want to save Jet; not just for me, but for Xion and Roxas. We have to remember those people. We have to keep them in mind. We have to save Jet for them!”

                “And we also need to save Aqua, Terra, and Ventus, and all of the other Master’s too!” Lea despaired. “Who knows if any of them are out there? It’s so frustrating! I just wish this all was settled.” He looked down sadly. “I just wish that Roxas and Xion were here…”

                The illusion had evidently had a strong effect of Lea. Emi frowned. “Lea…” She paused. “It’s going to be okay, got it memorized?” she used his phrase. “Yes, they aren’t here now, but you’ve said it before. They’re in your heart.”

                “I know…” Lea’s voice wavered. “It was just… it was like they were there with me, and then they were torn away… It was like I had them back.”

                “The illusion is a dangerous thing,” Emi repeated. “I know that he didn’t mean to hurt you…” Her voice trailed off.

                Lea nodded. “I know that he didn’t, but I don’t know why he did it. Why give them to me for that short of a time?”

                Emi paused. She thought she knew why he would. “He thought it would make you happy,” she decided. “That’s all Jet ever wants. He wants people to be happy. He must have thought that seeing them again would make you feel joy if only for a moment.”

                Lea looked over and smiled sadly. “He was right; it did for that moment.” He looked down. “But now it’s gone, and I miss them all over again.”

                Emi paused. “Imagine what it must have been like for him,” she pondered. “If he knew that it was all an illusion… imagine what it must have been like to know that you were creating a lie?” Lea looked up. “I’m sure he could have done things that would make him happier, but he chose to make me happy instead.” She shook her head. “If he could make that illusion for me, and that little illusion for you, wouldn’t you think he could have made something for himself too?”

                Lea shrugged. “I don’t know. I have no idea how his powers work, and even if I did, I don’t know how he thinks.” He frowned. “I can’t imagine. He was stuck there; you said he told you that. He couldn’t escape it and he knew it was all a lie.”

                “He wanted me to escape,” Emi said. “He always wanted me to. He was preparing me.” She looked into the distance. “He taught me so many things that he didn’t have to. He told me about the outside words… he was willing to be alone… for me.”

                Lea opened and closed his mouth a few times. “Xion did that once,” he explained. “Before she became one with Sora and before she came back. She was willing to be erased from everyone’s memories just so that Sora would be safe.” Lea shook his head. “I guess being selfless must run in the family.

                Emi paused. “What happened to them, Lea?” she asked the question that had been on her mind for ages. “What happened to Roxas and Xion?”

                “They came back,” Lea began, “and then they died soon after.” He sighed. “They were erased long before that; or at least, I thought they were. Apparently they went to Sora, one of the other Keyblade Masters.” He paused. “They were a part of his heart. But when they finally came back, when they were no longer a part of him… once Xehanort was defeated… a new enemy came. One that we eventually defeated, but not before they were dead. They sacrificed themselves to save us all. They defeated the enemy, but they died in the process.”

                Emi was sad to hear that. “I’m sorry Lea. It had to be hard, thinking you had them back only to have them taken away so soon,” she sympathized. “I’m sorry that you had to go through that.”

                Lea sighed. “It’s definitely not your fault.”

                “I know,” Emi admitted, “but I can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like.”

                Lea looked away. “I guess it doesn’t hurt to remember them,” he decided. His smile was sorrowful. “Maybe I should take that as I hint that I should more often. It was… it was nice.”

                Emi grinned. “Maybe that’s what you should take from that. Remember to remember.”

                “Remember to remember…”

0o0o0

(The Illusion)

                Jet released Origin from his grip the moment that they entered the illusion that Jet knew so well. He had believed it to be gone, but in his desperation they had ended up there instead. He wasn’t going to complain at this moment. It had been an advantage to be able to take Origin to this level playing field.

                Jet unfroze him. “Origin,” Jet addressed him.

                Origin looked around frantically. “Where am I?” he demanded. “What have you done to me?”

                “We are in the illusion, Origin, the one that you made me create.” Jet smiled. “As far as what I’ve done to you, I’ve done nothing; I wanted you to see something.”

                “Why would I want to see something from a figment like you?” Origin sneered. “I should just send you back to the void.”

                Jet took a deep breath to maintain his cool. “Origin, you know for yourself; you’re more than just a memory,” he stated. “Yet you are less than human; you’re… you’re almost like me!”

                “I’m nothing like you!” Origin balked. “I have nothing in common with a being such as yourself; I have nothing in common with a wish!”

                “Then what do you suppose you are? Memories?” Jet questioned. “Memories can’t evolve and change; memories can’t take new actions. They’re stagnant; that is the nature of memories.”

                Origin growled. “Yes, I am more than a memory, I know that; but it does not make me like you. I am far more powerful! I am far more important!”

                Jet shrugged. “Who knows; maybe you’re right,” Jet acknowledged, “but you know that it doesn’t really matter.”

                “I should destroy you!” Origin sputtered.

                “You couldn’t if you tried,” Jet said. “You know that fact is true.”

                Origin clenched his teeth and stepped back. He was afraid of Jet and the illusion; he was trying to flee from his fear. When he couldn’t get away, his face morphed into one of defeat. “What do you intend to do to me?” Origin asked warily.

                “I’m not going to do anything to you,” Jet repeated. “I’m not you.”

                “What do you mean by that?” Origin questioned.

                “Why _would_ I do anything to you?” Jet wondered. “Illusions and memories don’t have to be nightmares.”

                Origin clenched his fists. “Why you little…” he muttered. “Release me at once!”

                Jet smiled and closed his eyes.

                “Xehanort?” Origin heard a young and familiar voice from behind him.

                Origin felt his body morphing into a smaller form; a frame that he remembered, but not that he would have expected. He turned around. His jaw dropped. “Eraqus?” The voice that came from his throat was not his own… or was it more his own than the other?

                As his eyes focused on his old friend, his grey eyes sparkling and smile on his young, unscarred face, he barely registered the world around him morphing into a more familiar setting. The Cliffside over the Land of Departure. The spot that they once loved to be in. How had they gotten here?

                “You made it back!” Eraqus said happily. “I was worried.”

                “Why were you worried?” Origin wondered… or rather, the young Xehanort said slowly. But this… this wasn’t a memory. This wasn’t something that had come to pass.

                “You were gone for so long,” Eraqus explained. “The master sent you out and you never came back. It was so stupid; we said that we would always be together, that we had to stick together through everything, and then the master decides to send you on that stupid trip.”

                “…Sorry,” Origin apologized. “I didn’t mean to be gone so long. I just… I got lost.” Origin knew it was true… he had gotten lost so long ago. It had been so long; they had been apart for so many decades now. Why had he done it? What had happened? Why…? He was a memory; why couldn’t he remember what happened?

                “I know,” Eraqus soothed. “It’s okay…” He came over and pulled him into a gentle hug. “I forgive you; for all of it.”

                “For everything?” Origin asked in disbelief. “You know about—“

                “Everything,” Eraqus confirmed. “I know; you turned to the darkness. I… I couldn’t stop it. I hated it. I wanted to do something to save you. I promised you that I would never let the darkness take you, that the master was wrong all along, but…”

                “It was a book,” Origin remembered. “An ancient book that I found on another world. It was connected to the darkness.” He sighed. “I was pulled in by it. The darkness… in my curiosity, I let it overcome me.”

                “I’m sorry… it was my fault…” Eraqus let go and looked down.

                “No!” Origin protested. “You didn’t do anything! It was all on me!” Eraqus looked back and the face was _still_ the one that Xehanort would have remembered, but how could it be?

                He had stared into the grey eyes so many times in their life together… and it was a life together. They had been together. Xehanort had promised that he wouldn’t let the darkness win. How could he have broken that promise? How could he have thrown it all away? Why… why did he desire so much power?

                It wasn’t worth it. Not a single instant of what happened was worth what he had lost. He had lost Eraqus, and with Eraqus, he had lost the last bit of light in his life.

                But now… they were together again. He… he didn’t know how it was possible. “Eraqus… I’m so sorry…” his voice trailed off and he felt tears begin to well in his eyes. “How could I do this…? All of this…” He looked up at the starry purple sky. The stars shone down like the beacons of hope they always had been. The world seemed to shine with lost potential, and Eraqus… Eraqus was here.

                Eraqus shook his head. “It’s okay Xehanort. It’s okay,” he insisted. “You came back. It took a long time; it took forever, but you’ve come back.”

                “How can you say that?” Origin became aware once more that he was Xehanort no more. He shook his head. “I never came back. You’re wrong. I was stuck in the darkness… It was that Sora boy that stopped me.” Origin wanted to scream up at the make-believe sky. It all made sense now. This was an illusion. “Eraqus, I love you! You were the love of my life—Xehanort’s life… I’m sorry he never came back to you.”

                “I love you too,” Eraqus assured. He didn’t seem startled by the change of tone. “And you did come back, as Origin.” Origin flinched at the acknowledgement. “You just have to beat it. You can triumph over the darkness this time. I promise you, Origin.”

                “But Eraqus,” he wailed. “You’re just an illusion. How can you say that? How can I trust you?” He wanted to scream from the torment he felt. “How can I believe you? I’ve ruined everything! Not once, not twice, but so many times. Even in this lifetime, I can’t be the Xehanort you knew! He would never do those things; not the things the one who took his name did nor the ones I have done. He’d never—“

                “You didn’t think you had a choice,” Eraqus told him. “When you had no other choice, you turned to what you knew: the one who took your name. The one that chased you away… you believed that you had to help him once more.”

                “Eraqus?” Origin stuttered. “How can I—“

                “You’ve always believed me,” Eraqus offered. “And it’s even in your name: Origin. You can go back to who you were!”

                “The Original…” Origin breathed. “You mean—“

                “You have a choice, Origin,” Eraqus said. “I may be an illusion; I don’t know. How could I know?” He paused. “But I know you, and I know that you will make the right choice. Yes, you’ve done some terrible things, but you can repair them!”

                “I can’t change the past; the past can’t be changed,” Origin disagreed.

                “You know that’s not what I meant,” Eraqus argued. Origin couldn’t believe how accurate this illusion was. It sounded exactly like Eraqus would. It was so… bizarre to say the least. “I don’t know how to say it… Yes, you can’t change the past. The memories… they’ll always be there.” He looked into his eyes. “But you; _you_ can change. You don’t have to stay like this. You can make up for your mistakes.”

                “I can save them now…” Origin finished. “I can help stop the one who took my name from returning…”

                Eraqus nodded. “I knew you’d figure it out,” he said. “I love you, Xehanort; or Origin, if that’s your name now. I… I can’t wait until I can really see you again.” He smiled. “I promise that I really forgive you. I promise that it’ll be okay. It will finally, _finally_ be okay.”

                With those final words, the world around him began to waver. “No, Eraqus! Don’t go!” Origin called to his friend; no, the light of his world… as he turned and walked away. He ran after him, but when he reached him, he ran right through. “No…” he called in despair. “Eraqus… come back…” he whispered.

                The world around him changed from the Land of Departure that he knew so well into that of another. The purple evening changed to a golden twilight and he knew he was back in the illusion from which he came. He slowly turned around to face the one who had caused it all.

                “Why, Jet?” Origin wondered. But he felt a smile on his face. He had seen Eraqus… Eraqus was here. “Why did you do it?”

                Jet smiled. “I’m sorry that I could only hold it for that long,” he apologized to Origin. “But I can’t hold on to that forever.”

                “You let me see him,” Origin acknowledged. “You let me see Eraqus.”

                Jet nodded. “What did he have to say to you?” he wondered. “Did he help you?”

                Origin slowly nodded. “But why would you bother? I’ve done nothing but hurt you…”

                “Illusions don’t have to be nightmares; I said it before,” he explained. “The illusions that you create; you make them based on what you know; what he told you.” He sighed. “Xehanort only taught you of hatred and anger. He told you that there was nothing else to you, so you believed it. You felt you had no choice but to wield that darkness; but you do have a choice.”

                “I have a choice…” Origin agreed. “That’s what Eraqus told me.” He paused… he was a bit embarrassed. “That illusion; did you hear everything?”

                Jet shook his head. “I cannot hear my illusions; I can only see them,” he told Origin. “And I didn’t listen to what you had to say. That was your moment, one that I pulled from _you._ You deserved to live it as you saw fit. I just hope that Eraqus was able to help you.”

                “He was,” Origin admitted. He paused. “Say; is that how Emi has no painful memories?” he wondered. “You made her illusion… did you make it as positive as this one?” Jet nodded. Origin chuckled. “Why would you do that? Why wouldn’t you doom her to the fate that you lived…?”

                “Why would I do that to a person?” Jet questioned. “She didn’t deserve it. She didn’t deserve the knowledge that nothing was real. She needed a chance to live, the chance that you took away from me,” he explained. “I wouldn’t wish my fate on anyone. She deserved to be happy. So that’s what I did my best to make her. I wanted her to be happy, so I let her be happy.”

                “I’m sorry,” Origin apologized. “For what I’ve done to you… I’m sorry that I took you away.”

                Jet smiled. “I appreciate the apology,” he said, “but—“

                “Memories stay behind,” Origin understood, “and you can never forgive me for what I’ve done. I understand… But I had to say it.”

                Jet nodded. “You know so much… you just have let yourself be guided along the wrong path. You can change.”

                Origin shook his head. “It’s too late for me,” he disagreed, “but perhaps I can still make a difference.” He smiled. “Thank you… even if you are only a figment like me, you have helped me more than you can ever imagine. Thank you for helping me see the truth…” He paused. “And thank you for letting me see Eraqus again.”

                “He’ll be happy to see you; once you go back,” Jet said. “Whenever that time comes, he’ll be happy that you made it back.”

                Origin smiled softly. “If only that could be true…” He looked around. “If you will let me leave, I have some final business I must attend to.”

                “Where are you going?” he asked.

                “To make things right,” Origin answered.

                Jet couldn’t hold this illusion and longer, so he nodded and opened a portal behind Origin. “Step through there and you will be back in reality.”

                Origin sighed. “Are you coming too?” he wondered.

                Jet nodded. “But not with you.” He sighed. “I have to go back… I have to free Emi.”

                Origin slowly nodded and swallowed. “This is goodbye then, Jet.” He turned around. “I wish you the best.”

                And Jet believed it. He had no reason to believe he would lie. “Goodbye, Origin,” he said.

                Origin stepped through the portal and the illusion that surrounded them crumbled into nothing.

0o0o0


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

(Emi)

                “So Jet told me,” Emi began, “that we need to find our way to the heart of this world and that there would be another ‘castle of night’.”

                “Castle of night,” Lea muttered. “But this place… Where is it?”

                Emi shrugged. “We have to find our way to the ‘heart of this world’. My guess would be we head towards that light,” she told him. “So let’s go. We’ll find out what happened once we get there! I know we will!” She smiled.

                Lea frowned. “I hope it’s that easy. I really do…” He paused. “I just wish we had a way out of here—“ Suddenly a rope dropped from the sky, along with a note.

                Emi caught the note before it could flutter away in the powerful wind blowing through the empty bright expanse around them. _Emi:_ the note said. _Here’s your ship. I bet Lea was worried… still, you have to find the heart to get through. Here’s your way out once you’re done. Jet._

                Emi pointed at the rope. “Jet brought back our ship,” she said quickly. “Jet…” she trailed off.

                “We’ll find him,” Lea promised. He looked more relaxed in the new knowledge. “So then—you said we go this way?” He pointed.

                Emi started walking. “It’s a start at least. And now we know where we’re docked.”

                “Right!”

                “Let’s go!”

0o0o0

                “Just what is this place?” Lea questioned as he examined a way they walked past. “This is… this is from somewhere else.” He pointed towards a toy in the wall; a teddy bear. “I doubt there are any kids around here.”

                Emi paused in thought. “You know…” she trailed off. “Jet told me about a place once; a place where the worlds that once disappeared converged; where their remains went. It was called ‘The End of the World,’” she proposed. “I always figured it was just a story. Then again, I thought that about everything that he ever said.”

                Lea stared blankly at the teddy bear. “Worlds that were destroyed… wouldn’t you think everything would have gone back?”

                Emi hesitated. “What if not all of the worlds were restored?” she wondered. “What if some of them were gone for too long to go back…?”

                Lea looked horrified. “I’m not sure what to think about that. Sounds a bit too creepy for my taste.”

                Emi nodded in agreement. “I certainly don’t want to think about it; what would have happened to the people?”

                “They would have been scattered,” Lea told her.

                “What if there were no people to go back?” Emi mused. The thought was unsettling. “What if they were all gone? What if there was no one who wanted to go back? What if there was no reason for the world to return at all?” she pondered. “I mean, what’s a home with no one to claim it?”

                Lea looked like he was a bit ill at the thought. “Imagine it,” he muttered. “Imagine all of those people that could never see their home again before they died…” He looked back at the teddy bear joined with the wall. “I don’t want to think about those people. Those people…”

                “They had lives. They had a home that they never returned to.” Emi took a deep breath. “They lived in the knowledge that they would never be home again.”

                Lea coughed. He knew what she meant. “You know that feeling, don’t you?”

                Emi nodded. “I do. I wish that I didn’t, and there’s nothing I could do to change that fact.”

                Lea shook his head and tried to smile. “Anyway…” He looked away from the toy, the look of discontent remaining. “Let’s keep going.” Lea started walking. He looked around. “Do we keep following the light?”

                “Isn’t that all anyone ever does?” Emi philosophized. “Or is that being too deep.”

                “A little too deep there.” Lea chuckled. “Don’t want to push over the edge.”

                Speaking of edges, Emi about walked off of one. “Whoa!” she cried as she regained her balance. “Wait; the light is brighter down there,” she noted. “I wonder… could we get down there faster?” She walked closer to the edge.

                “Get back from there, Emi!” Lea demanded. “I have to be the adult in this situation. As much as I would normally be all for throwing caution to the wind, I can’t do that. I have to take care of you!”

                “Oh, come on, Lea,” Emi whined. “Let’s just go!”

                Lea sighed in defeat. “I’m at least coming with you. Deal?”

                “Of course!” Emi huffed. “Who said I was going alone?” She grabbed his arm. “Let’s go!”

                “On the count of three?” Lea suggested.

                “One.”

                “Two.”

                “Three!” they both yelled as they leapt from the ledge. They didn’t know what would happen next, but they would soon come to find out. After all, what’s life without a little adventure, and what’s an adventure without a bit of danger?

0o0o0

(Jet)

                Jet stood on a pillar outside of the castle in wait for them. They would be here soon; Emi and Lea. Together, they would find him. When they found him… well, he’d be ready. All it would take was one thought, one final action and she’d be free of him. One final illusion and he would never have been there at all.

                He didn’t want to do it. He really didn’t. But he had to. He had directed them to this detour, but soon they would find them and everything would be good again; Aqua, Terra, Ventus. Origin’s mistakes wouldn’t matter anymore. It was only a matter of time before it happened. Jet sighed and shook his head in disgust. “If only I could make all of the pain go away,” he mumbled. “But I don’t think I can make that much of an illusion. Besides; all of the illusions… Isn’t that what I’m trying to get away from?” he wondered. “So I need to stop with them. I have to make them end.”

                The end of those illusions; the removal of himself from the life of the person he cared about more than anyone else, more than he ever could. Emi… he had to free Emi. And this would be his chance to fix everything he had ever broken.

                He heard the portal open and close behind him. He knew what voice he would hear call to him when it came to be heard. It wasn’t going to be a surprise. “Jet!” he heard an excited Emi call from behind.

                “I was wrong, Emi; this place isn’t where you’ll find them,” he said without turning. He clenched his teeth. He had known all along, for this was one final illusion that Emi would have to face. “But you can get there from here.”

                “Come on, Jet!” she called and he heard her walking closer. This land… it was one that Lea knew well. “You’re coming with us, okay?” It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t a suggestion. It was a command. And Jet didn’t like being commanded. All guilt, all regret that he felt for what must happen faded away into nothing. He summoned his Keyblade. In a flash, the simple silver key appeared within his palm, just as much of an illusion as he was. “Jet?” Emi asked cautiously again.

                Jet turned around. “No, Emi,” he said slowly. He tightened his grip on his weapon. “I’m not.”

                Lea caught her by her shoulder to stop her from continuing. “Emi, wait!” Lea interrupted.

                Emi turned to face him. “Why?” she questioned.

                “The look on his face…” He trailed off and he swallowed. He was afraid for her.

                Jet felt the sorrow on his face; he couldn’t hide it, nor the sadness, the rage… He couldn’t hide them anymore! He was done with illusions! He needed to do this. This was the final thing he had to do. He had to get it to her! He didn’t want to, but he had to give her the necklace! The bottle of stars… that was the key. The object that she had given him was the final connection. If it was broken… she would be free. “Emi!” He quickly took the necklace from around him neck. “I needed to give this back to you before I go.”

                “Jet?” Emi looked horrified. She knew he’d never give it back willingly. She shook her head. “That’s yours, Jet; you have to keep it.”

                Jet shook his head and held the beloved trinket in his palm gently. He looked down at it sadly. He wanted to keep it; he did. He wanted… he wanted to stay in her heart! But he had to let go. He swallowed hard to hold back his tears. “Take it, Emi, or I’ll throw it away!” he threatened.

                The World that Never Was; the edge down into the city below was high enough that it would be lost forever. He held it over the edge, his heart pounding like a drum. This city… this necklace would disappear along with it. The illusion would be over, and Emi… Emi would forget him.

                “Jet…!” Emi sounded angry now. “Don’t you dare drop that!” she growled. “Do you even know how hard it was to get that?” The look on her face wasn’t anger. It was despair. But she thought that maybe, just maybe this would be the way to get through to him. She started to walk towards him, shoving Lea away.

                Jet held the charm out to her. “Then take it!” he demanded. “I don’t want—“ He stopped and shook his head. “I don’t need it anymore,” he corrected. “So take it!” He prepared to throw it to her. The jar… it had to shatter. Those hopes, those dreams. They never belonged to him anyway!

                He wasn’t sure where she had gone until she was behind him, hand tightly gripping his wrist to stop him from throwing the beloved necklace. “No,” she said firmly. “It belongs to you.”

                Jet dropped his Keyblade and took his other hand to try to pry his wrist from her grip. “Just. Take. It!” he managed to say. “Ugh!” he complained as he tried to get her to let go and to slip it into her hand.

                “Never,” she promised. Her eyes softened… she was seeing through his façade, if there was any façade in the first place. “Jet…” Her voice softened to a soothing tone. “Come on; put it back on.”

                Jet shook his head and clenched his teeth. “Take the necklace, Emi!” he repeated. But she grabbed the hand with the necklace with her other hand. He couldn’t pull away anymore. “Emi… please just take it…”

                Emi shook her head. She let go of his wrist when she saw he stopped fighting. “Jet… come on. Put the necklace back on.” She smiled. “Please?”

                He shook his head frantically. “N-no,” he managed to stutter out instead of crying. “I have to leave… I have to let you go…”

                “What?” Emi breathed in shock. “What in the world are you talking about, Jet,” she demanded.

                “I can’t stay,” he insisted. “I never belonged in the first place. I’m just an illusion, and I’m tired of giving you illusions. I just—“

                “Stop talking so crazy,” he heard a voice that he hadn’t expected to be behind him say as the necklace was removed from his hand. He turned his head to face Lea. “You belong in Emi’s mind, so you belong; you’re real, got it memorized?” Jet froze as Lea put the necklace back over his head.

                The necklace settled against his chest in its familiar place, the weight back where it belonged. He relaxed his arms and tried not to let the tears slip out of this eyes. Emi pulled him into a tight hug, and he knew that he couldn’t leave even if he really wanted to, let alone without the desire to. “I’m sorry, Emi,” Jet whispered. “I didn’t want you to miss that illusion…” His voice faded to nothing.

                Emi let go of him and pushed him away enough to look him in the eyes. “Jet? What are you talking about?”

                “Our Twilight Town,” he explained slowly. “I don’t want you to miss it. It never belonged…”

                Emi looked horrified. “You were trying to make me forget you?” she yelled in outrage. He flinched. “Why would you ever think that would be the right thing to do?” she demanded.

                “You missed me; you would keep missing me,” he offered. “I… I’m not real! You should be out there with real people!” The World That Never Was faded into a familiar place, the place that he had always called home. Their Twilight Town. “This place; I wanted you to forget it! I wanted you to forget that you were living a lie!” The golden sunset shone down just like it always had and it always would.

                Emi shook him by the shoulders. “Stop it!” she ordered. “You’re a part of my life; you’re real to me! I would always miss you, even if you made an illusion that I’d never been here; that you’d never been here!” She shook her head. “What were you planning to do then? What did you intend to do?”

                Jet shook his head back at her. He didn’t even know. He just wanted to free her. “I have to let you go, Emi!” he said sorrowfully. “You have to leave and I have to stay here!”

                Lea sighed deeply. “You’re so much like your mother,” he noted. “Too much like her in this way.”

                “Huh?” Jet wondered.

                “The whole ‘selfless, self-sacrificing’ thing,” Lea explained. “You think that it would help if you were gone, and you’re willing to hurt yourself to make things ‘better’.” He paused. “Well, you’re wrong. Even if you were gone from the conscious memories, you would always remain. Emi would always miss you.”

                Jet stared blankly at him as a few tears finally slipped out of his eyes. Emi finally let go of him and he stood there numbly. Was Lea right? Lea… Lea would know, wouldn’t he?

                He looked back at Emi. She was close to tears too. “Don’t leave me, Jet,” she begged. “Please don’t leave me alone… You’re the only person I’ve ever known…”

                Jet opened and closed his mouth several times… but then nodded. How could he say no to her when she looked so sad? “Emi, I’m…” He sighed. “I’m sorry.”

                Emi pulled him close into a tight hug again. “Does that mean you’re not leaving?” she asked from where her face was buried in his shoulder.

                “Yes,” he confirmed. “That means I’m not leaving.”

0o0o0

(Emi)

                Emi sighed in relief and a little bit of her heartbreak faded into the distance. Jet was staying. He wasn’t going to leave. “Jet…” she whispered as she slowly let go of him. “Why would you want to remove yourself from my memory?”

                “I…” Jet looked away. Emi studied him expectantly, so he eventually sighed and looked back at her. “I was tired of you living those illusions. As long as I’m around, this illusion will remain with you.”

                “So what?” Emi questioned. “What if I want that illusion to remain? If it means that I can keep you around, it’s worth it!” she insisted.

                Jet stared at her for a moment. His blue eyes held so much sadness. He didn’t look like he knew what to say or what to do. Had this been his entire plan? Now it was thrown out the window, and Emi was glad about that, but—He laughed. “Typical Emi,” he teased.

                Emi smiled. “I want you to know that no matter what, I would never want you to disappear,” she told him. “I don’t care if you think it’s for the best. I promise you that it would never be. I guarantee that I would never be happy.”

                “Emi, I’m sorry…” He frowned and looked away again.

                “You don’t have to keep apologizing!” she exclaimed. “But just so you know, I would always miss you, even if you made some kind of fake memory that you weren’t there. There would always be a piece of me missing that I’d never be able to live without, okay?”

                “Okay…” Jet muttered. He looked up at her and Lea; his face grew cautious when he saw Lea, and why wouldn’t it? Emi realized that much like Jet had been the only person she had known, Jet had only known her. And he hadn’t exactly made the best first impression.

                So Emi pulled Jet to her side and smiled at Lea. “Now I actually get to introduce you two!” she cheered. “Lea, this is Jet; Jet’s my best friend.”

                “Hey.” Lea grinned. “I’m Lea; got it memorized?”

                Jet blinked for a moment before slowly nodding. “It’s nice to meet you, Lea,” he said, and when Emi saw the look on his face, she could tell there was something odd about this interaction; like it was something that Jet had been missing. She didn’t know what was going on, and she didn’t particularly care. She was just happy that they were together again.

                “So we’re back in the illusion?” Emi wondered. “I thought you said it was gone!”

                Jet shook his head. “I thought it was too,” he admitted. “But when I took Origin away, I brought him here. We’re not _really_ here anyway,” he said with a shrug. He slowly let the illusion disperse and they were back at The End of the World, outside of the heart of the world where they had jumped towards. They had not entered it. “I’m not sure how I was able to come back to this place. It never really existed but… I wanted to see it one last time, and then I knew I could use it for this.”

                She looked around their new surroundings. “What is this place?” she asked cautiously.

                “It’s the graveyard of worlds,” Jet stated. He shook his head. “I don’t know what drew me here, but I do know through that door lies another world.” He pointed towards a large double door that looked like it belonged to a castle. “The world that we seek is The Land of Departure,” he continued. “That is where they wait.”

                “The Land of Departure?” Lea wondered. “That’s their home…” Jet nodded. “But… I thought it was gone.”

                “No world is ever truly gone. No world is ever truly forgotten.” Jet turned and pointed at the door. “This door. This door remains from that world and it leads to what’s left.”

                “So what are we waiting for?” Emi asked. “Let’s go through it!” She walked over to it. Jet didn’t step in her way, but…

                “Wait!” Lea stopped her. “We don’t know if it’s safe; and what if there’s nothing there?” He shook his head. “We’ll have no way back!”

                Jet grinned. “The ship; I can bring the ship,” he assured. “Relax a little, would you?” He walked over to the door. “I’m going through. You guys can wait if you want. It’s your decision.” He touched the door and it opened with a bright light. Through the opening, a castle under a violet night sky filled with stars could be seen.

                Emi rushed after him as he went through the door and Lea followed quickly behind.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hadn't realized just how weird this story is until now that I'm posting it. (Memo to self: write less weird things)

Chapter 11

(Jet)

                Jet stared off into the distance from his seat atop a cliff. The Land of Departure; the memories that lingered here were powerful but nothing like the illusion that Jet had manufactured for Origin. They had decided to take a break; they would have a long journey ahead even now and none of them had stopped even for a moment. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to rest for a brief amount of time. He hadn’t told them where he was going, and he didn’t figure anyone would look for him… but…

                In true form, Emi climbed up the cliff and sat beside him on the narrow ledge. “Jet,” she began, “what are you doing up here?”

                Jet turned his gaze down to his clasped hands in his lap. What _was_ he doing up here? He should be gone! He should have left. He should have…

                “Jet?” Emi worried. “Are you… crying?”

                He shook his head. “No,” he muttered as he wiped his eyes. “I’m not crying.” He knew that he was lying.

                And Emi knew it too. “What’s wrong?” She pulled him towards her and into a hug. “You’re safe now! You’re safe and you promised that you’re going to stay!”

                “I know, but…”

                “But what?”

                “Why do you want me around, anyway?” he asked. “I’m nothing. I’m just a dream, and not even a real one. I’m a wish. I don’t really exist.”

                “You’re real to me!” Emi insisted.

                Jet shook his head. “No, Emi. You don’t get it.” He looked towards her. “Our friendship; I was only part of that illusion. I’m as fake as that Twilight Town, and our friendship was just a work of fiction. My creation.”

                “Don’t be silly!” Emi disagreed.

                “But it’s true!” Jet argued. “I never was real. I was never meant to be anything at all!” He stood up. “I should leave; I’m not real. I’m not really your friend. You deserve to have a new life free of the illusions you had forced upon you!” But he didn’t make any moves to go.

                “No, Jet. You are really my friend,” Emi insisted. “Maybe we were in the illusion, but _you_ were actually there. I mean, you’re here now, so you must have been!”

                “…So?”

                “To me, our friendship was the only real thing that came out of that place,” Emi explained. “You are my friend regardless of you thinking that you’re not. I mean, you consider me a friend, right?”

                Jet nodded. “Of course.”

                “See? Everything that happened might not have happened in a real place, but the events that took place were real.” Emi smiled. “And you; you were a part of those memories, not part of the illusion.”

                Jet slowly sat back down, his mood somewhat improved. He shook his head. “You’re the best, Emi.”

                “I’m really not,” Emi disagreed. “All of those years… well, I think it was years…” Jet nodded. Emi frowned. “All of that time, I didn’t believe you when you talked about things; not about the Keyblades, the heartless, or the darkness. I thought it was just you being silly and trying to scare me. I thought that everything was real and perfect in our little world and that there was nothing else.”

                “That’s because it was,” Jet said with a sigh. “That perfect world. Rather than me being a part of it, that world was a part of me.”

                “What do you mean?” Emi wondered. She was confused.

                Jet picked at the fabric of his clothes nervously. “I was drawn to the world by a wish, a last thought in the back of someone named Xion’s mind.” He sighed. “With that wish, with me, the Twilight Town that she remembered was formed.”

                “That Twilight Town was beautiful,” Emi acknowledged. “I want you to know that.”

                “It was once you were there,” Jet said. “Without you, it was lonely. It was so lonely that I couldn’t stand it.”

                “What do you mean? There were all of those people…” she wondered.

                “I lived in a world of silence. A world with only sight. I could not hear the voices, nor could I touch, nor could I smell… I couldn’t feel hear the wind or feel the breeze on my skin. I couldn’t taste any food I made. There was nothing,” he explained. “I was alone until you came.”

                “What?” Emi worried.

                “My eyes can be fooled, Emi; but no other part of me can believe the illusion,” he continued. “Without you, that Twilight Town was an empty space. And you know, until I came here I figured everywhere else must have been too.” He smiled. “But you, Emi; you have always been real, and I always knew it! Your voice was the first one I had heard in a very long time, and I never got tired of hearing it! When you hugged me or touched me, _feeling_ something was like magic! I wasn’t just seeing things. You were real!”

                “You mean that the illusion wasn’t real… to you?” She looked shocked.

                Jet nodded. “All of those people; they had no voices to me. Their stories; I wrote them. I knew what they’d say because I made them say it. I knew what they would do because I made them do it.” He sighed. “I’m sorry the sunset never changed, Emi. I know you got tired of it. But it was just so much work to make a sky!” He shook his head. “Things like those seashells or the sand on the beach; I didn’t feel them or the pages of a dusty old book. I had to pretend.”

                “Why did you do it, Jet?” she puzzled. “Why did you bother to work so hard to make the world like it was if it wasn’t for yourself?”

                Jet looked at her. “You were happy, weren’t you?” he asked.

                “Yes. I was,” she admitted.

                “Then I did what I needed to,” he confirmed. “I wanted you to be happy where I couldn’t be. I wanted you to never have to feel alone like I did,” he said. “All of those people. You heard them, you could touch them. All of those books were real to you. Everything was real to you and you were happy. It was worth it.” He smiled. “And in seeing you happy, that made _me_ happy. I didn’t think I ever could be, but I proved myself wrong.”

                “Jet…” She paused. “Thank you,” she said in lack of anything else to say. “You didn’t have to do it. You didn’t have to make things perfect just for me.” She paused again. “And you know, I think part of me knew.”

                “Knew what?” Jet questioned.

                “I always felt alone when I wasn’t with you, no matter how many people were around me,” she disclosed. “I wonder if I knew they weren’t really there.”

                Jet frowned. “If that were the case, I wouldn’t have made a difference,” he said. “I mean, I was part of that illusion as much as it was a part of me.”

                “You’re not though!” Emi disagreed. “You’re real whether you have it through your head yet or not! I’ll make sure you realize it one of these days,” she resolved. She put a hand on his.

                “Emi?” he asked cautiously.

                “You feel my hand, right?” she asked. “Then you know I’m here.”

                Jet slowly nodded. “Yes,” he confirmed. “I feel your hand. I hear your voice.” He smiled. “I hear Lea’s voice too. I heard Origin, but, well, I don’t think that counts.”

                “That’s not my point,” Emi argued. “If you can tell the difference between the truth and an illusion wouldn’t that make you real in order to know the difference?” she offered. “Wouldn’t you think that if you were part of that illusion, you wouldn’t realize it? Do you think that you wouldn’t have been able to change anything? Wouldn’t you think that it would stay the same?”

                Jet paused in thought. Was Emi right? He… he had known that he was an illusion all along. He had lied to her. Why was she trying to comfort him now? Why wouldn’t she just let him go? “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Emi, I don’t know what I am, and that kind of scares me,” he continued. “I thought I was an illusion, but maybe you’re right. If I was an illusion, I wouldn’t know. That’s what I told Origin. Why would it be any different for me?”

                Emi paused. “You’re Jet, and you’re a person,” she insisted. “You don’t have anything to worry about. Everything’s going to be alright.”

                “I’m so confused,” Jet said. “I mean, I’m not real. I’ve never been real.”

                “You were a real dream,” Lea disagreed as he came over to them. “Sorry to interrupt,” he apologized as he sat down, “but I was wondering what was taking you so long.”

                “A ‘real dream’?” Jet asked slowly. “What does that even mean? Dreams are illusions created by your mind when you sleep.”

                Lea shook his head. “Not that kind of dream,” he explained. “The kind of dream that is a conscious thought. Like a wish, a hope, a goal; maybe those are better terms.”

                Jet was still confused, but he was silent on the matter. He couldn’t exactly ask this stranger too many strange questions. There was something far more important that must be done. They had to find Aqua, Terra, and Ventus.

                Instead, Emi spoke up. “What do you mean by that though?” she wondered. “I like the sound of it; a ‘real dream’…”

                Lea sighed. “He was real to Xion when she died,” he said. “He was what she really wanted… isn’t that right, Jet?”

                Jet stared at Lea for a moment before slowly nodding. “Yes,” he admitted. It hurt to think about. It hurt to think about his mother, the woman that he would never see again. It hurt to think about what he had lost and how he had been taken away from her. That emotion, that sadness…

                “Maybe you’re something that was meant to be,” Lea argued. “You say that you weren’t, he continued, “but maybe you were something that was supposed to exist from the beginning that wouldn’t have been able to.”

                Jet shook his head. “No. Surely that’s not the case,” he said. He turned back to Emi. “I…” He trailed off.

                “Do us a favor, Jet,” Lea said. Jet looked back over at him. “Stay with us. We’ll stick by you, got it memorized?” Lea smiled. “It’s the least I can do. You apparently made Emi very happy when she could have suffered. And…”

                “I’m Xion and Roxas’s kid,” Jet acknowledged. “Sure. I get that, and I don’t hold it against you.”

                “I wasn’t going to say—“

                “You were thinking it,” Jet continued. “It’s fine. It’s a perfectly good reason to want to protect me.”

                Lea shook his head. “I’m still telling you; you should stay with us.”

                Jet studied him before looking back at Emi. “I should leave,” he repeated. “As long as I’m with you, Emi, the illusion remains. I’m that illusion.”

                “Jet, you’re not—“

                “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to go away,” he decided. “I said that I _should_ leave, but… I can’t make myself.” He looked at her with a frown unsure of what else to say.

                “You’re staying?” Emi asked excitedly.

                Jet nodded. “If I can’t go away, then I’ll help you instead. I’ll help you find them; Aqua, Terra, Ventus… I’ll help you find all of them.”

                Lea grinned. “I thought you’d turn around,” he said. “Just needed a pep talk from me.”

                Jet laughed. “It’s so funny.”

                Lea looked at him curiously. “What?”

                “You sound just like I remember,” he said. Lea tilted his head and looked confused. “Back then… back before Origin brought me here…” He looked down but kept smiling. The thoughts; the memories of a life that had been real to him.

                “What are you talking about?” Lea demanded, and Jet got the feeling that it was a question that had been running through his head for quite a while now. “Are you saying that you were…?”

                Jet slowly nodded. “I was a piece of them,” he explained. “I was a piece of their heaven.” Lea’s jaw dropped, as did Emi’s. “They were happy, but they remembered you a lot.” He looked off into the distance. “They missed you, but they were waiting patiently. They were content.”

                “Whoa,” Emi breathed. “You’re not an illusion, Jet… You’re an angel.”

                Jet burst out laughing. What in the world had she just said? “An angel?” he asked between laughs. “That’s classic, Emi.” He laughed some more. That was so stupid; such an ‘Emi’ thing to say.

                “I was being serious!” Emi protested, crossing her arms. “It’s not supposed to be funny.”

                Jet tried to stop laughing. “Wow. That’s a good one.”

                “I said it wasn’t a joke!” Emi argued again. “You were wondering what you were; it’s just a thought.”

                It was that moment that Jet noticed Lea was staring at him in awe, like he had indeed seen an angel; like he had proof now that there was something beyond the present… like there was a life beyond the grave. “What else could you be?” Lea asked after he had time to process. “I mean, you just said that you were ‘a piece of their heaven’.”

                Jet shook his head. “No. That’s too stupid. Too cliché.” He sighed. “I’m nothing here. I never was supposed to be here.”

                “Nope!” Emi cheered. “You’re supposed to be here, and now in my eyes, you’re literally an angel!”

                “What?” Jet deadpanned. “You aren’t serious.”

                “I mean, you already were,” she insisted, “after all you did for me; after how perfect you made my life. What else could you be?” She smiled at him.

                Jet rolled his eyes. “You’re being weird, Emi,” he complained. He looked over at Lea. “And you are too.” He shrugged. “I’m not an angel. I don’t have wings or anything weird like that.”

                “That doesn’t mean you’re not an angel,” Emi claimed. “There are all kinds of angels. I read about them in those books on the shelf in my house.”

                “There were books on angels at your house?” Jet was confused. “How’d those get there? I don’t remember making those…”

                “Wow,” Lea marveled. “I’ve met an angel. That’s a life achievement.”

                “Would you guys stop with the angel thing?” Jet requested. He was getting very annoyed with it. It was weird. It was annoying, and above all it was _not important right now._ “Shouldn’t we get moving? We should find Aqua, Terra, and Ventus, shouldn’t we?”

                Emi pouted. “We’re talking about this later, and I swear, I’ll get you convinced,” she vowed. “I mean, you have to be an angel. You’re so full of light. You always have been.”

                “No,” Jet disagreed again.

                Lea shook his head in disbelief. He crossed his arms. “Jet’s right about one thing,” he said. “We should get going. We don’t want them to wait any longer than they have to.”

                “Thank you,” Jet said. He was happy to have the attention diverted from him, though he knew he would be stuck with it coming back sooner or later. That was the price he had to pay, he supposed. He never should have let it slip out… but at least it didn’t seem to make Lea too sad, so that was a plus. It didn’t matter that they were right.

                No, now the only thing he wanted to focus on was getting Aqua, Terra, and Ventus back. If they were back, things could be right again.

0o0o0

(Emi)

                Emi couldn’t believe it; her best friend was an angel, and he truly believed that he was an illusion. Could he really not see how important he was? He never lied to her before; he truly believed that he was nothing.

                He had never lied to her before. Even when they were in the illusion he was trying to convince her that something was off. He always wanted to point things out to her that could help her along the way. And really, who could blame him? She didn’t listen. It was all too out there. How could she know what he said was true? She had no way of doing so.

                But he had taught her everything that he knew to teach. He had taught her to fight, when to trust and when to question things. He had done so many things for her and he didn’t think that he was worth anything. It just wasn’t right!

                And now he was back and it was like nothing had happened; well, other than the fact that so many things had happened! It was weird enough for her being in reality, but him; he hadn’t ever heard or felt anything but her. It had to be terrifying, yet he stood there strong. Instead of lagging behind and letting her or Lea lead the way to the castle, he was willing to walk in front of them without any visible fear.

                This castle; this night was strange and peaceful. The air had a feeling of potential and she didn’t know what that really meant. The stars shone down like beacons of hope. Was this truly where they were supposed to go, or was Jet wrong? Either way it was a place to start. The ominous building in the distance was a beautiful white castle with large archways. The ruins that they left behind as they were walking now seemed so out of place in this pristine land.

                This place seemed so empty. She had to wonder just how long it had been without people and whether it would ever have anything beyond the memories of them again. She could only hope that Jet would be right. She could only hope that Aqua, Terra, and Ventus would be there. What if they weren’t? She didn’t really want to think too much about that.

                They had been quiet for quite a while before they reached doors that looked much like those they had stepped through back at the End of the World. Lea shook his head. “You two have been too quiet. Now this place is giving me the creeps.”

                “Come on, Lea,” Emi complained. “We have to go and check it out. What’s the worst that could happen?”

                Jet sighed. “Emi’s right you know,” he said slowly. “We have to go in and check. I can’t know for sure if I’m right and that they’re here, but it’s the only lead we have, right?”

                Emi nodded in agreement. “Sorry I’ve been so quiet, Lea,” she apologized. “I was lost in thought. It’ll be okay now, I promise.”

                Lea sighed. “I hope you’re right.”

                Jet pushed open the doors, and rather than a light, the door simply opened into a large entry hall. There were pillars and statues and lots of hallways. “Which way do we go?” Jet asked as he turned around to face Lea and Emi.

                Emi shrugged. “I thought you knew,” she said dully. “You’re the one who seems to have had a good handle on what’s going on around here these days.”

                Jet rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I don’t know on this one,” he admitted. “I’m sorry.”

                “It’s fine,” Lea assured. He looked around. “Say.” He pointed to the left. “Do you see light down there?”

                They all looked down the hallway. “Yeah!” Emi cheered. “I do! I guess we go this way then?”

                Jet nodded. “Sounds like a good place to start.”

                Lea began to lead the way. “Let’s go then!” he said. He looked back at them. “I’m leading the way thought. I’ve got to keep you kids safe.”

                Emi nodded with a smile. “Thanks, Lea! Although, we can take care of ourselves.”

                Lea grinned. “I know; but I can still be the protective adult, right?”

                Jet laughed. “Sure.” He smiled as well. “Let’s go then. We need to find them, right?”

                Emi nodded in agreement. Lea walked in front of them.

                Emi sighed. “This place _does_ feel a little creepy, doesn’t it?” she admitted. “I mean, I don’t know why, but it feels so… so _lonely._ ”

                “Lonely?” Jet wondered. He looked around. “Doesn’t seem too much different than anywhere else to me.”

                Emi laughed nervously. “Of course it doesn’t to you, silly,” she said.

                “I know what you mean,” Lea agreed. “It feels really empty; like no one’s been here for a long time, and I’m guessing that no one had been since I thought this place was gone.” Lea paused. “You know though, I imagine it will feel a lot less lonely once we find them.”

                Emi nodded. She could hardly wait to find them now. She hadn’t seen her parents since she was very young, and she missed them. Well, she hadn’t really known that she missed them until this journey had begun, but that didn’t matter. Now that Jet was safe, her goal was to find these people that she barely knew if she knew them at all; if nothing else, Lea cared about them. She wondered if she remembered their faces and their voices. What was this all going to be like? She knew it would be strange; that was a given. She hadn’t known these people in a very long time, and now… Now they would be back and they would presumably be woken up from a stasis much as Lea had been and be very confused. What would they think about the fact that their daughter was nearly an adult? What would they do with their lives once they were awake?

                Lea looked back at her. “You’re quiet again.”

                “Sorry,” Emi apologized. “I’m just worried.

                “Worried?” Lea asked. “All of this time and you’ve never directly said you were worried. What’s wrong?” He stopped in his tracks to turn to look at her. “Nothing’s gone wrong so far, so nothing’s going to go wrong now, got it memorized?

                Emi smiled. “Right,” she agreed. She wouldn’t speak of her true worries; they weren’t something to be worried about at all, so why bring them up? What use was it to fret and make Lea worry about her worrying? Wouldn’t Jet worry too?

                “Something’s here…” Jet muttered. He looked around.

                “I don’t see anything,” Lea said, but he summoned his Keyblade. He looked around. “It looks like the coast is clear—“ He took a step backwards.

                “Stop!” Jet yelled and ran towards Lea.

                Emi couldn’t even comprehend what was happening as it did… Lea was… falling? But there wasn’t anywhere to fall.

                Lea yelled as he fell, throwing up a shot of flames into the air to stop her from jumping after him… the scream was cut off sharply and all fell silent as Jet reached the edge of the pit that could now be seen.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

 (Lea)

                Lea looked around at the town that was suddenly below him. He knew this place. The clock tower; Twilight Town. “What?” he asked hurriedly searching the scene. “What’s going on?”

                The last thing he could remember was pain; pain and Emi screaming his name. A dark void, a trap… He fell into it and stopped Emi and Jet from following. So how was he here in this town that he held so close to his heart? Surely Jet wouldn’t choose now to place him in some illusion; it would be bad timing.

                “Lea?” he heard a familiar but worried voice from behind him.

                He turned around. Two familiar faces stared back. “Roxas? Xion?” he wondered. His heart started beating faster.

                “Lea…” Xion looked horrified. “No. You can’t be here yet!” she despaired. “You can’t be here.”

                Roxas put a hand on her shoulder and her stance loosened. “Lea? How are you here?”

                Lea crossed his arms. “That depends on where ‘here’ is,” he pondered. “I mean, this _could_ be one of Jet’s illusions, maybe to stop the pain but—“

                “This isn’t an illusion, Lea,” Roxas told him slowly.

                Lea looked around once more. “But—“ He looked out at the sunset. “How am I here then? I was at the Land of Departure. We were going to save Ventus, Terra, and Aqua…” he trailed off.

                “What happened, Lea?” Xion asked in a hushed tone.

                Then it hit him. “Wait… I’m dead?” he puzzled. “I fell down into a pit, and I think there were spikes at the bottom…” He was horrified. “Emi… Jet…” He was beginning to panic. “Are they okay?”

                “Lea, it’s going to be okay,” Roxas assured, though he looked confused; understandably so, if they stood in heaven and there was no seeing what was before.

                “No! It’s not going to be okay!” Lea disagreed. “They’re just kids! They shouldn’t be on their own.” He shook his head. “What if they fell too? What if—“ Xion was suddenly hugging him, so he shut up. He tried to calm down his breathing. He wasn’t about to cry. No, that wouldn’t be something he would do.

                If he were really dead, though, it would be more like him to mourn for the living rather than himself. He quietly returned the hug. “Xion…” he whispered. “Roxas…”

                “I’m sorry,” Roxas said. “It’s too soon for you. This isn’t right.”

                “It wasn’t right when you two died either,” Lea agreed, “but that didn’t stop it from happening.”

                Xion sighed. “I’m sorry Lea… we should have waited.”

                “You don’t have to apologize for dying,” Lea said. “I’ve had time to get over it.” He paused. “Though, I don’t think I ever will completely.

…

                They settled in atop the clock tower to converse as they always had before. “So…” Lea commented in an attempt to lighten the mood. “I met Jet.”

                Xion’s face lit up. “You met Jet?” she mimed. Roxas looked equally confused and concerned. “Is he okay?” she demanded.

                Lea nodded. “He’s fine; he’s a good kid.” He paused. “Some guy named Origin took him from you, didn’t he?”

                Xion looked puzzled. “Someone did; though I did not know their name.”

                Lea shook his head. “A memory of Xehanort,” he explained.

                Roxas grew tense. “Xehanort took our son?”

                Lea shrugged. “I guess so. But there’s nothing we can do to change it,” he admitted. “Origin said that ‘he lingered by the clock tower’. That he was ‘useful.’”

                “Where is this Origin?” Roxas demanded. “I want to—“

                “I don’t know where Origin is,” Lea interrupted. “Jet took him somewhere, that’s the last I knew.”

                Roxas reluctantly calmed down. “I couldn’t do anything if I wanted to anyway,” he said in defeat he looked down.

                Lea frowned too, but he wanted to lighten the mood. He might be dead, but this was still the first time he’d seen them in so long! “So… you adopted an angel?” Lea wondered.

                Xion smiled and nodded. “At least, that’s what we always thought he was,” she offered. “He came to us on accident; I think he was tasked with something else; but he was our child.”

                Lea smirked. “Oh hey, I was right! He got upset when Emi and I called him one.” He sighed. “He seems like a good kid. I mean, Origin was using him, but he never did anything to harm anyone even under that control.”

                “Origin was… using him?” Roxas worried, trying not to get angry.

                “Apparently Jet can create illusions at will,” Lea began. “For ten years, Jet held up an illusion of Twilight Town for a girl to live in. Emi… Aqua’s daughter.” Lea sighed and looked away. He couldn’t believe that he couldn’t protect her anymore. “He did everything he could to make it ‘perfect’ for her, even though it took a lot out of him and he couldn’t do anything with the illusion for himself.”

                “Wow,” Xion said. “I thought he was the one making the illusions here. When he was taken, there was a lag; it took a while for it to be noticed and the clock tower had begun to fade away.”

                Lea blinked. “Huh? You mean he made illusions here?” He paused and laughed. “The kid only wants to make people happy. I guess it would make sense.” He hesitated. “I say kid tentatively. He’s a teenager, but you know what I mean.”

                “I miss him,” Xion admitted. “I wish that Origin had never taken him away.”

                “He talked about you earlier today; he misses you too,” Lea said. “But he’s out there and he’s finally free of Origin. He can make his own choices now. He’s out there helping Emi save everyone…” Lea sighed. “I should be there to protect them both.”

                “I’m sure they’re fine,” Roxas assured, though he sounded worried. “Just because they’re young doesn’t mean that they can’t take care of themselves. I mean, look at everything that happened to us back then.”

                Xion nodded. “It’s going to be okay,” she agreed. “Besides; there’s no point in worrying now.”

                “I just wish I could be there to keep them safe!” Lea stood up. “I should be there to protect them! I should be there to help them!”

                He looked up when he thought he heard a voice. “Lea?” he heard Emi call as if through a tunnel. “Lea!” she screamed.

0o0o0

(Emi)

                “Emi! Stop!” Jet yelled at her as she tried to climb down. “You can’t go down there!”

                “But—Lea!” she was starting to panic. She was close to a meltdown. And who wouldn’t? She had traveled with the man through so many worlds and for so long. He was the only person other than Jet that she had ever known… and now he was lying limp in a pit of spikes.

                Jet clenched his teeth and closed his eyes. “Why. Is. This. Happening!” he growled. He clenched his fists and raised his face towards the sky. “Lea, you’re not allowed to die, you know that, right?” Jet snapped. “Emi needs you!”

                Emi looked away for only a moment, but when she looked back, tears streaming down her face, her sobbing was interrupted by the sight she saw. She couldn’t believe her eyes. “Jet?” she asked warily. “What are you doing?”

                Jet, now with a pair of wings made of energy, jumped down into the pit without any further hesitation. “Jet, no!” she called as she ran closer to the edge. Before she had a chance to see where he had gone, she noticed that Lea wasn’t there anymore and heard the sound of something landing gently beside her. She turned and looked back at Jet as his wings burst into what looked like shards of glass.

                He slowly sat Lea down on the ground in front of him. “Even if he’s dead,” Jet said softly, “I wasn’t going to leave him down there.” His eyes were turned towards the ground with no hope left in them.

                “Jet…” Emi came closer. She could only look for a moment before she had to turn away, hiding her face in Jet’s shoulder. “Oh… poor Lea…” she wailed, trying to get the image of the gashes within Lea’s body out of her head. It wasn’t working well.

                Jet gently pushed her away and shook his head. He crouched down and checked for a pulse. To his surprise—“Emi!” he cheered. “He’s still alive!”

                “He is?” she marveled. She looked at him again. “B-but look at him!”

                Jet shook his head. “His heart still lingers,” he continued. “There is unfinished business left behind. He isn’t here right now, but his heart longs to return. He… he hasn’t accepted defeat yet.”

                “Then we have to do something!” Emi exclaimed and prepared a cure spell. “He can’t die; he just can’t!”

                Jet crouched down beside Lea. “I… I don’t know if this will work,” he said slowly. “I’ve never done it before, but… it’s worth a shot.”

                “Jet?” She saw him place his hands on the ground beside the injured Lea.

                The ground beneath him began to glow a gentle green, the floor cracking and plants breaking through. Jet’s brow furrowed in concentration as he focused on his goal. The tendrils and vines slowly wrapped into a loose shield around Lea and there was a bright glow. Jet’s eyes snapped open glowing the same shade of emerald. He closed them once more and when they opened they had returned to their normal, blue, human appearance and the aura slowly faded away.

                The vines slowly receded and on the ground lay a fully healed man. Jet put a hand to his head. “Ow. Migraine of the century,” Jet complained.

0o0o0

(Lea)

                _“His heart still lingers_ …” Jet’s voice echoed to the clock tower. _“He… he hasn’t accepted defeat yet.”_

                Lea blinked. “Are you hearing all of this?” he questioned.

                Roxas and Xion slowly nodded. They looked puzzled, but they looked happy.

                _“Then we have to do something!”_ he heard Emi yelled. _“He can’t die; he just can’t!”_

_“I don’t know if this will work… I’ve never done it before, but it’s worth a shot.”_

                Lea started glowing. “Whoa,” he breathed. He looked around as he saw everything wavering. “I guess I’ll see you guys later,” he said to Roxas and Xion.

                They both smiled. “Don’t come back so soon, okay Lea?” Roxas ordered.

                “Yeah, yeah,” he said with a laugh.

                And with that, the clock tower faded away and all was dark.

0o0o0

(Emi)

                “Jet?” Emi worried. “Are you okay?”

                “I’m fine,” he muttered as he opened his eyes again. “Just give me a second.” He sat down on the ground.

                “What did you do?” she demanded.

                “Something,” Jet replied.

                “Something? Is that seriously all you’re going to say?” she nagged. But she looked back at Lea. “You… you healed him,” she observed.

                “Did I?” Jet looked thrilled. “It actually worked?”

                Lea sat straight up. “Whoa,” he breathed.

                Emi wanted to scream out in pure excitement. “Lea!” she yelled as she rushed back to his side. “Lea! You’re okay!”

                “Yeah… somehow.” He looked over at Jet. They all knew how.

                “Huh…” Jet marveled. “I guess I can do more than just make illusions.” He laughed.

                Emi felt her eyes burn out of this whole emotional roller coaster she had just been on. “Jet!” she said authoritatively. “Don’t you ever, _ever_ tell me that you’re not an angel again!”

                Jet sighed deeply. “I’m not an angel,” he argued. “But apparently I can do more than I thought.”

                “You had wings,” Emi pointed out. “You had wings. You flew down there and got him out of the spikes, and then you… Brought him back from the brink of death.”

                “He had wings?” Lea asked. “That had to be weird.”

                “It honestly was,” Jet replied. Emi expected that Lea wanted her to comment, but instead Jet continued. “My back hurts now,” he complained. “And so does my head.”

                “Your back hurts,” Emi repeated as she turned to face him. “That’s all you have to say?”

                Jet shrugged. He stood back up. “Are you okay Lea?” he worried. Lea nodded. “And are you—“

                “I’m happy to be back, Jet,” Lea assured. He smiled. “I’ve still got to keep you guys in line!” he joked.

                Emi jumped up and down for a moment. “That’s such a relief!” she cheered. “I mean—“

                “Thanks, Jet,” Lea said. “You didn’t have to do that.”

                “I didn’t even know I could,” Jet admitted with a shrug. “I’m glad it worked. I’m glad you’re back.”

                Lea nodded. “You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?”

                Jet shook his head. “ _I’m_ fine. I’m not the one who just slightly died.”

                “Slightly died,” Lea deadpanned. “I guess that’s one way to put it.” He paused. “Your mom and dad say hi.”

                Emi’s expression morphed to horror. “You mean you were actually dead?”

                “Slightly,” he repeated. He looked over at Jet. “Oh, and Jet? Stop saying you’re not an angel, because that’s what you are. You’re not some figment or illusion.”

                Jet rolled his eyes. “No ‘m not,” he mumbled. “I’m not supposed to exist.”

                “Maybe not here,” Lea admitted. “But you are supposed to exist. Stop getting those thoughts that Origin planted in your brain stuck in your memory. You’re real, got it memorized?”

                “Can you at least stop with the angel thing?” Jet complained. “It sounds… I don’t know. It sounds ‘high and mighty.’” Emi tackled Jet. “Whoa!” He almost fell over and was barely able to keep them both vertical.

                “You could never be ‘high and mighty’,” Emi promised. “You’re Jet, and you’re the most awesome person ever who will never admit it to anyone.”

                “Anyway,” Jet coughed. “I’m glad you’re okay Lea.” He looked thrilled; Emi could tell he was being sincere. “I was worried.”

                “You never have to worry about me,” Lea promised. “I’m tough.” He grinned and tried to stand back up.

                “Hey! You don’t have to stand up yet!” she insisted. She rushed over to Lea. “You were really hurt! You should rest.”

                Lea shook his head. “I feel fine,” he argued. “But… let’s be more careful from here on out,” he suggested. He made it to his feet. “I’d hate for another one of us to fall into a trap.”

                “This is _not_ the time for joking!” Emi protested.

                “Lighten up, Emi,” Lea said. “I’m fine.”

                Jet shook his head. “We really should be more careful,” he agreed. “I don’t know if I can do that again.”

                “What did you do anyway?” Lea wondered.

                “Something,” he repeated.

                Emi shook her head at his wording. “Yes; he did something. Something amazing!” She grinned. “He did this whole magic thing where these vines came through the floor.” She pointed at the cracks in the floor and the remaining vines. “They surrounded you. There was this weird green glow and then you were okay!”

                Jet shrugged. “I don’t know if I can do it again,” he repeated. “We should have listened to you, Lea,” he apologized. “We should have been more careful.” His face was sorrowful and he looked horrified. Emi couldn’t exactly blame him.

                Lea frowned and shook his head. “I should have been pushier.”

                Emi looked between the two of them. “Come on, guys,” she insisted. “Stop being so ‘blamey’ and worry about the future! We don’t know what lies ahead, right?”

                “Blamey?” Jet mocked. He shook his head and his smile slowly returned. “Typical Emi,” he said with a light chuckle. Lea laughed too.

                Emi took a moment to try to process the look of shock on Jet’s face and then it hit her: he had lived in a world of silence. He had never heard anyone but her, and now here was another person whose life he had just saved, and he was laughing. Jet looked around carefully. He was searching for something and Emi had some idea of what it might be. An illusion…

                Jet looked back at them. “I don’t see any other traps,” he said, “but I’ll keep a better lookout. We need to stay close,” he added.

0o0o0

                “So…” Emi asked once they were walking again. “Jet; what happened to Origin?”

                Jet paused and looked at her. He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

                “What did you do to him?” Lea wondered warily.

                “Nothing!” Jet insisted. “Nothing! All I did was showed him an illusion. I wanted him to see that dreams don’t have to be nightmares…” He looked down.

                “And then you let him go,” Emi stated. Lea looked relieved.

                Jet nodded. “He said that he had some business to attend to; that he was going to make things right,” he explained. “I… I couldn’t hold the illusion any longer to talk to him more about it,” he admitted.

                Emi smiled. “That’s okay, Jet,” she acknowledged. “Maybe he really was going to go make things right!”

                “I wish there was some way that we could know,” Lea said. “But we can’t. I don’t know what he’s going to do now; and what are _we_ going to do?”

                “We keep moving,” Jet asserted. “There was a trap this direction; isn’t the right way usually the dangerous one?”

                Lea tilted his head. “You’re right,” he admitted.

                Emi nodded. “Let’s get moving then!” she suggested. “The sooner we find them the better, right?”

                Jet nodded. “This way then.”

                They all walked close together as they prepared to round the next corner. It was like they were closer now than they had ever been. Even if Jet didn’t know Lea, even if they had only met a few hours ago, Jet had saved Lea’s life without hesitation and now it was like they’d known each other forever. A new friendship was forming; it was amazing how close they had all grown in this short amount of time. No matter what happened, they would always be in each other’s hearts from now on.

                Around the corner was what they were looking for; more pods like those that Lea had been imprisoned in when Emi found him. “Is this them?” she questioned as she went to rush towards them.

                Jet put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t rush off,” he urged.

                Lea nodded to agree, but he walked slowly forward without stopping. He approached the pods and looked in, and his expression morphed into a strange mixture of relief and sorrow. “They’re in there,” he confirmed.

                Emi smiled. “Alright!” she cheered. “Let’s get them out of there!”

                She and Jet walked over to join him. When they were where they could see the pods, the dust being brushed away by Lea, they saw whom they were looking for; one blue-haired woman, one brown-haired man and one blonde man. Aqua. Terra. Ventus. They had been found.

                Jet studied the people with a bizarre expression of sadness and remorse on his face. “What’s wrong, Jet?” Emi worried.

                Jet shook his head and reached forward to pull Lea back. “This isn’t real,” he stated.

                “What are you talking about?” Lea puzzled. “They’re right here, and I can touch the pods—the dust even moved when I brushed it. It’s real.”

                Jet shook his head. “No, those things don’t mean anything.” He stopped Lea from reaching forward again. “Stop.”

                “Jet?” Emi fretted. “What’s going on?”

                Jet shook his head and let go of Lea, looking around. “No!” he yelled and she knew it wasn’t at them. He looked desperately at Emi. “The Wayfinder! Do you still have it?” he begged.

                Emi quickly pulled it out of her pocket. “It’s right here, why are you—“

                When it touched Jet’s hand, the hall around them suddenly filled with darkness. Jet put the Wayfinder against Lea’s arm and when he did, Lea’s face calmed down and he looked around in confusion. “He was here!” he shouted at Jet. “What did you do?”

                “Lea, calm down!” Emi snapped as she rushed over and Jet released him. “What are you talking about?”

                “Isa!” Lea said. “He was here!” His eyes were wild and panicky.

                “Don’t let the illusion get ahold of you,” Jet soothed. “You know that Isa can’t be here…”

                Emi looked around the room; the three pods were still there but the room was filling up with a dark mist. “What’s happening?” she worried. She grabbed Lea’s arm and pulled him closer and walked closer to Jet.

                Jet shook his head. “It’s coming…”

                “What is ‘it?’” Emi demanded.

                Jet clenched his teeth. “The illusion; it followed me!”

                Before them, rising up from the ground, stood a man; a man with blue hair and a scar across his face. “Isa!” Lea exclaimed and tried to scramble from Emi’s grip. Jet grabbed his arm to stop him.

                “You have to stay put!” Jet ordered. “You have to—“

                Emi froze as another figure came from the darkness, this one looking like the person standing beside her. “Jet?” she asked as she looked between the two of them.

                “Get away from her!” the farther one yelled. He acted much like Jet had back under Origin’s control. “Don’t touch her!”

                The nearer Jet was looking at Emi and shook his head. “Emi, listen to me! I—“ His voice was cut off as a Keyblade was shoved through his chest.

                “Emi,” the other Jet regarded her as he tugged his Keyblade out. “Don’t listen to him,” he hurried. “He’s lying to you, he’s—“

                Emi caught her falling friend in her arms. “Jet!” she cried. She reached for a confirmation; his necklace. He had it and the other lacked the charm.

                “Emi…” Jet groaned. “Get Lea and get out of here!”

                Emi looked up as she saw Lea running towards ‘Isa’. “Lea!” she called after her. But she didn’t want to let go of her friend.

                “They’re just illusions!” Jet pressured. “Don’t listen to them. They’re not real, just—“

                “Don’t listen to the fake!” the other Jet shouted and prepared to swing his Keyblade at Jet. “He’s lying to you!”

                She summoned her sword and blocked the blow. “Now _you_ listen,” she growled at the clone. “I don’t know what you are, but you’re not Jet!” She deflected the attack.

                “What are you talking about, Emi?” it asked in apparent despair.

                “The bottle of stars!” she proclaimed. “You don’t have the bottle of stars!”

                The real Jet straightened up from where she had let go of him and summoned his Keyblade. “Go, Emi!” he begged. He began to glow faintly. “Go get Lea and run!” He threw up a barrier in front of Lea as he reached ‘Isa’. “You have to fight it, Emi,” Jet said. “I’ll fix this!”

                Emi shook her head. “I can help you, I can—“

                Jet blocked another attack from the clone aimed towards Emi. “You have to get Lea; he’s too enthralled in the illusion to back off on his own!”

                Emi looked nervously between the two of them and saw that Lea had no weapon towards the illusion of what had apparently been his friend. The ‘friend’ however had a claymore. Emi ran towards Lea and got in the way of the attack. “Lea!” she cried. “You have to wake up!”

                Lea’s eyes snapped over to her and then back to ‘Isa’. She could see that he saw the weapon now and he summoned his Keyblade to block another attack. “Geez, I’m sorry, Emi,” Lea apologized. “I was really falling into that spell.”

                “Lea?” Emi heard the stranger ask. “Why are you attacking me?”

                “I could ask you the same thing!” Lea told the clone. “Jet’s right; you’re an illusion!”

                “We have to run!” Emi explained; but she searched for an exit and saw none. She turned back to see where Jet was and saw only a glowing circle of light. Both Jets were gone entirely. “Jet…?” she worried. The light was expanding and the room was going back to normal in slow waves. ‘Isa’ faded away.

                Lea stepped closer to her. “What’s going on?” he questioned.

                “Emi, I’m so sorry.” Emi whipped around and saw Jet standing there bleeding. “I knew the illusion would follow me. That’s why I tried to leave…”

                “Jet!” she cried as she ran to him.

                He smiled. “Don’t worry about me, Emi.” He grabbed his necklace but didn’t take it off. “I’ve still got this… But it’s time to take all of these lies away.” The room was completely back to normal and sunlight came in through the windows.

                “No, Jet!” Emi wailed. “Don’t go!” Jet shook his head as he faded away in particles of light. “Jet!” she screamed as she ran to where he had been.

                Lea followed her and put a hand on her shoulder. “I… I’m sorry,” he said after a long moment. “But we need to get them out now.” He looked around the sun-filled room and at the pods. Emi wasn’t going to cry… she couldn’t!

                She slowly nodded and the two went over to the pods and touched them one by one. The machines released steam and they caught and slowly lowered the Keyblade Masters one by one to the ground.

                Emi sat on the floor next to them and waited for them to wake up, but it wasn’t what was on her mind. Her mind was focused on Jet; it had always been… why would it be any different now? Jet… This wasn’t how this was supposed to happen. Jet was meant to be here with her, at her side. He always was supposed to be there, and now he wasn’t. She… in whatever way she loved Jet, she loved him more than anything. She had never thought that she was _in love_ with Jet, but now that she had a deep feeling that he was never coming back, she knew that she had been incorrect. Maybe she was nothing more than a sister to Jet, but to her… Jet was everything. And now he was gone. The light in her life; he was gone.

                “Ugh,” she heard a woman groan. She looked up and saw the blue haired woman whom she knew to be Aqua sitting up.

                Emi stared blankly at her for a moment. Was this really her mother? It was surreal; there was this woman here that she had forgotten for most of her life, one that she knew was her mother but how did she really feel about all of this?

                When she had set out on her journey, what had she really wanted to find? She didn’t know anymore, but she knew that it wasn’t this.

                Aqua looked around. “What’s going on?” she asked. Her gaze jumped over to her sleeping friends. “Terra! Ven!”

                “Good morning sleepyhead,” Lea greeted her. The look on his face was strangely fond.

                Aqua’s face snapped towards him. “Lea?” she wondered cautiously.

                “Good to know you still know my face,” Lea joked.

                Emi looked between the two of them in confusion. She shook her head and focused on Aqua. “Are you Aqua?” she inquired.

                Aqua looked over to her. She studied her for several seconds. “Emi…?” she marveled.

                Emi nodded. “Hi. Apparently I’m your daughter.”

                Aqua looked at Lea again. “You found our daughter?

                “Well…” Lea rubbed the back of his head. “Our daughter kind of found me.”

                Emi froze and stared at him. “Did you just say…” She was having trouble comprehending this. “Did you just say _your_ daughter?” She stood up. “We’ve been traveling together for this long and you never said that I was _your_ daughter?”

                “Emi, calm down I’m—“

                “Weren’t you upset when I was wrong and called Terra my father?” she demanded. “Weren’t you mad that I remembered incorrectly?” She was baffled. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

                “I didn’t want to confuse you…” Lea explained. “You were already confused enough coming out from that illusion, and then well…”

                Aqua stood up. “Where were you for so long?” she questioned. “Before, I mean; had Origin captured you?”

                Lea looked back at her and nodded. “Sorry…” he apologized while looking down.

                Aqua looked a strange mixture of relieved and horrified. “No, Lea,” she argued. “I’m the one who is sorry.” She shook her head and looked away. “I thought you left and didn’t come back.”

                Lea looked away too; it was obvious that he was hurt but… “You didn’t look for me,” he acknowledged. “I get it. I’ve never been the most reliable person.”

                “Lea, I…” Aqua sighed.

                Emi shook her head. “I’ll give you two a moment,” she suggested. “And I’ll go check on those two blockheads.”

                “Blockheads?” Lea asked, but Emi ignored and walked over to the other two.

                This was all too much. Too confusing for her to comprehend. She couldn’t help but be upset. How could she? And all this about Lea… She was searching her brain, searching for any lingering hint of him at all when she was a child… She found nothing. How could she forget her own father? How could she… how could she misinterpret another? But her thoughts, the jumble of memories that they were, found that Terra was indeed not her father. Origin had been wrong. It wasn’t any fault of his own either. He only knew the memories that lay inside her, and those memories were confusing.

                “Oh!” she interrupted her thoughts and quickly turned around. “Hey Aqua—I mean, Mom.” She held out the Wayfinder. “This is yours, right?”

                Aqua reached into her pocket to see if it was there. It was not, obviously. “How did you get that?”

                “Jet left it for us,” she explained. “It helped us find you.” She paused. “But you don’t know who Jet is.”

                Aqua looked puzzled. “Actually, I believe I do.”

                Emi walked the charm back over to her. “You do?”

                “The boy who looks like Xion,” she offered. “He was lost in the darkness. I gave him this charm to guide him back to the light,” she explained. She tilted her head. “He made it?”

                Emi nodded. “Yes, he did,” she said. “Now I don’t know where he is, but he helped us along the way, and he’s always helped me. Always.” She looked down. “And now he’s gone and it feels like he’s not coming back this time.”

                “Hey,” Lea argued. “You thought that before and he came back; he’ll be okay, got it memorized?”

                Emi looked up with a smile. It all made more sense now why Lea was always trying so hard to cheer her up and why he was always so comforting and protective. She shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she disagreed. “But thanks.” She paused. “He said he was taking the lies away… I know that he thinks he’s one of those lies.”

                “He told you not to worry,” Lea assured, “and he still had the necklace.”

                Emi sighed. “Thanks, Lea—“ She stopped. “Or should I say ‘Dad’?” She grinned mischievously. It was obvious he wasn’t sure how to respond, so Emi just rolled her eyes and turned around.

0o0o0

(Jet)

                “I’m not ready to go away,” Jet said slowly to his falling apart world. The Twilight Town that he had called home for so long was crumbling around him. This was the end. This was the end of this illusion.

                He didn’t want to fade away! He wanted to go back, to be back where Emi was! He wanted to live an actual life like she would! He wanted… he wanted them to be right. He wanted to be real.

                “This illusion…” Jet wondered. “Do I really have to go with it?” He shook his head. “I do…” he thought. “The illusion; it followed me to the Land of Departure, and it attacked them. It…” He held the necklace out far enough to look at. He smiled. “Typical Emi,” he laughed. “Being all worried about me like that… I wish I could go back to you.”

                He started to remove the necklace but he couldn’t make himself do it. “No… I want to keep this,” he decided. “I… I want to stay. But this illusion… Will it ever go away?”

                Forewarned is forearmed, or so they say… Maybe it would be okay.

                “Mom, Dad; what would you do?” He knew he would get no answer. Not even an illusion could ever bring him hope. The illusions… they were just that. Illusions. And he would always know the truth from a lie.

                He had said his goodbyes to all of the people he had made. He had said his farewells to this world, but… he couldn’t make himself go with it. “It’ll be okay,” he told himself. “I’ll go back home, I’ll go back to—“ He stopped. He looked down. “But I don’t want to.”

                The illusion dispersed into nothing and he stood back on the ‘solid ground’ of the End of the World. He covered his eyes. “I can’t leave…” he admitted. “I can’t leave Emi behind.” Emi needed him; she needed an angel, if that was what he was. He knew that. And… he only ever wanted Emi to be happy. Maybe if Emi were happy, then it would be alright.

                Maybe he could try one last time, and if it failed again… he could leave for real.

0o0o0

(Emi)

                They were all awake and talking now, but Emi was uncharacteristically quiet. What was there to say? They were all free. She should be happy, right? This was what she had set out to do… But she wasn’t.

                Jet. Jet. It all came back to Jet. No matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried, it always came back to Jet! Why did it have to be that way? Why couldn’t she just be happy that everyone else was safe and—“Are you okay, Emi?”

                That voice, could it be? She slowly turned around. “Jet?” she dared to ask as her eyes focused on her dark-haired friend. He waved with a small smile, just like Jet would. She felt her lips quiver. “Jet!” she screamed as she ran towards him. She tackled him.

                “Whoa!” he yelped and barely stopped them from falling. “Please tell me that isn’t going to be how you always react when you see me.” He started laughing.

                “I thought you were—“ She shook her head. “I thought you were gone! I thought you said—“

                “That I was taking the lies away,” he quoted. He shrugged. “I did. Can you let go now?”

                She didn’t. “But I thought you said—“

                “That I’m one of those lies,” he finished for her. “I don’t care.”

                “You don’t care…?” Emi slowly let go of him.

                Jet nodded. “Yeah,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his head. “I don’t care… if I’m a lie, then so be it.”

                “Was that a normal reaction?” Ventus asked Lea.

                “Surprisingly, yes it is,” Lea agreed.

                But for Emi, the world was gone other than Jet. Jet was here. Jet was back. Jet was safe… and he said that he wasn’t going anywhere. “Jet…”

                “Typical Emi,” he teased. “Did you really this I was about to leave you behind? I promised I was staying.”

                “Don’t you ‘typical Emi’ me!” she protested as she lightly tapped the back of his head. “You’ve given me a lot of scares lately! You have to stop,” she commanded.

                “Sorry…” Jet muttered. But he looked into her eyes, his blue eyes sparkling like he was extremely happy. Emi couldn’t take it anymore. She loved Jet. She was in love with Jet, and—She barely stopped herself from going in for a kiss and instead stepped back. What if he didn’t feel the same? What if… what if she was still just a sister to him?”

                She could wait… it could wait. “Oh my gosh, Jet,” she said instead, “you missed out on some big things,” she said. She was grinning and almost bouncing with excitement.

                “Really?” he asked. He looked over her shoulder. “Oh; good. You got them out!”

                “Yes!” she cheered.

                Jet cautiously waved at them. “Hi. I’m Jet.”

                “I’m Aqua,” Aqua introduced with a smile.

                “The name’s Terra,” Terra said.

                “I’m Ventus; but call me Ven,” Ven added.

                Jet smiled. “It’s nice to meet all of you.” Emi could tell that he was uncomfortable and honestly she wasn’t sure she could blame him. He was always shy, and now all of these strangers when he had known no one but her… and the voices. He wasn’t used to voices, she couldn’t forget that.

                “Oh!” Emi giggled. “And I’ve got a funny story to tell you!” She grinned and glanced at Lea. “Lea’s my dad.”

                Jet blinked. “But I thought—“

                “I know,” Emi admitted. “But apparently not.”

                “Umm…” He had no other comment to use. He looked over her shoulder at Lea and then away.

                “Anyway, can you not do the whole ‘self-sacrifice’ thing again?” Emi suggested. I don’t know how much more I can take.

                “I’ll try not to do it again,” he said sheepishly. “I just thought…”

                “You thought it was the best option,” Emi acknowledged. “But I’ll have you know that it’s never going to be the best option, okay? I need you around!” She smiled. He was always trying to make her world perfect; well, if he wasn’t there, things would never be perfect again. She knew that now. She had to have him to live…

                Without him, she’d rather die.

                “Emi?” Jet got her attention. He held up his necklace. “Just so that you now it’s really me…”

                “I knew it was you.” Emi smiled. “I’d always know if it’s you; but thanks for keeping it. It really hurt when you tried to give it back to me.”

                Jet looked away again. “Sorry…”

                “Stop saying ‘sorry’!” she suggested.

                “Sorry…” he whispered even quieter.

                Emi sighed. “Just…” She stopped. Just what? “Just… never leave again, okay?”

                Jet nodded.

                She kissed him on the forehead… Then it suddenly occurred to her that they had been being watched the entire time. She rubbed the back of her head and turned to face the others. “Oh, um…”

                “It’s fine.” Ven grinned. “You two were having a ‘friend’ moment. Those happen.”

                “Oh cool,” she said.

                Jet sighed. “I guess we should get out of here,” he suggested. He paused. “Where are we going, anyway?”

                Emi looked at the others. “Um…”


	13. Chapter 13

Epilogue

0o0o0

                Emi and Jet sat on the couch of their new home in Radiant Garden, Emi leaning on Jet while reading and Jet casually braiding her hair into a bunch of random braids. Same old same old Saturday, just like nothing had ever changed. The room was calm and quiet, faint music playing in the background and sunlight slanting through the window. Typical day, typical patterns, things that Emi had truly missed.

                Well, things had changed; things had changed for the better now that they were out in reality. Now it was time for them to figure out how to live their lives; it was easier said than done. Times like this where they had a moment to act like they always had were pleasant and calming. Adjusting was difficult. It seemed to be harder for Jet than it was for Emi. Perhaps it was because she was used to at least hearing all of those people and she thought she was in reality back in their Twilight Town. Jet… Jet had known it was an illusion all along because he had been the one to create it.

                It hadn’t really occurred to Emi before they had settled in and she had observed the people around them that there was anything unusual about the way that she and Jet interacted with each other. Things like this, the calming effect of his hands moving gently through her hair, physical contact being casual and affectionate without being romantic… she had never thought there was anything out of the ordinary about it; but now there were questions from acquaintances and family alike that made her realize just how special their relationship was.

                She had come to the realization, when Jet was gone for so long, that she not only loved him (since she had already known that anyway), but that she was _in_ love with him, and it was a revelation that hadn’t had too much of an effect on how they interacted. Why would it? She hadn’t said anything. Nothing had changed but her perception which had no reason to have any bearing on their situation. If it did… well, then she would have to stop enjoying these things without a second thought and she would miss the feeling of Jet’s warmth, his hands through her hair or on her cheek. She would be saddened by the missing piece.

                It was a quiet and pleasant afternoon in this strange warm-toned living room, just the two of them sitting on the large couch alone. The outside world and all of the people there were strange and at times unpleasant. Having this moment to themselves like things always used to be… well, it was a relief.

                But she couldn’t help but wonder if she should say something. Jet only thought of her as a sister; that much had been discussed before. But… surely things wouldn’t have to change, even if he didn’t feel the same. And maybe…  just maybe things could become something for the better.

                “A penny for your thoughts?” Jet inquired as if he was reading her mind that there was something bothering her. His hands didn’t stop braiding and he didn’t look up from watching his movements.

                Emi put her book face down against her chest as to not lose her place. “It’s nothing,” she said as she chickened out. “Just… things are weird; out here I mean.”

                “Hmm…” Jet acknowledged. “Things are definitely strange,” he agreed. “But they’re not bad, right?”

                “Yeah,” Emi replied since she didn’t want to nod and move her head and interrupt his hands running through her hair… it felt really nice after all.

                “You have so much hair,” Jet remarked. “You ever think about getting a trim?”

                “I thought you were always telling me that I’d regret it!” she complained.

                “That was before it was down to your hips,” he argued, “and you wanted to cut it _all_ off.” He kept braiding though, moving her hair out of the way as he went along. “One of these days there will be too much for me to braid!” he teased.

                “Well that won’t do!” she joked… but she was really taking it into consideration. This kind of thing… she didn’t want it to go away. “I have to say though; my hair hardly stays back even with the clips in.”

                “About the clips,” he mentioned. “I noticed that you started wearing them.”

                “You were right; my hair kept getting in my face and I couldn’t see to get around, let alone to fight,” she explained. “I had never really looked at them closely; I didn’t notice they had stars on them.”

                “Oh?” Jet startled. “I didn’t figure you had. You just stuffed them in your pocket after rolling your eyes, after all.” He chuckled. “It was after you had given me the necklace; I figured that stars were important, so I made the clips have them too.”

                “Of course you’d think of details like that,” Emi said with a sigh. How had she overlooked so many things? She had taken so much that Jet did for granted, even the things that she had known he was doing. She… she shouldn’t have ignored those things. She should have been a better friend. He was always doing everything in his power to make her happy… why hadn’t she done the same?

                “Okay, there was that deep sigh again.” He stopped braiding. “Tell me what’s really bothering you.”

                “If you keep braiding my hair, maybe I will,” she negotiated.

                Jet rolled his eyes but continued. “What’s wrong?” he repeated.

                “I’m sorry that I wasn’t a better friend,” Emi apologized.

                “What in the world are you talking about?” Jet puzzled. He slowed down his braiding. “You’ve always been a great friend.”

                “I took so much of what you did for granted; I expected things rather than appreciating them!” she exclaimed. “Even when I didn’t know that you had been making the entire world, I should have appreciate the little things that I knew you did. Like the clips and the bow! I brushed them off and was almost annoyed!”

                “Don’t worry about it,” Jet assured. “I was happy because you were happy. I didn’t need thanks,” he explained. She looked up at him and he smiled. “You’re a great friend, Emi; my best friend.”

                “Hey that could just be because I was your only friend!” Emi protested.

                Jet’s smile turned to a frown. “Is that why I’m your best friend, Emi?” he asked earnestly.

                “No, that’s not what I meant!”

                “You’re my best friend,” he repeated. “When I thought that I was nothing but an illusion… when I thought that I would never see you again, what I hoped for was that maybe, just maybe our friendship was real. That it wasn’t just imaginary.”

                “Jet?”

                “And for me at least, our friendship was real.” His smile returned.

                “You’ve never been an illusion to me, Jet,” Emi promised with a smile. “You’ve always just been Jet; the most important person.”

                Jet chuckled. “That’s good I guess, since you’re the most important person to me too.” He said it with no blush on his face, no sign of embarrassment or hesitation.

                And while Emi herself had done the same the look of pure adoration in his eyes when he said it made her heart skip a beat or two. “Jet, I…” she breathed.

                “What?” Jet worried as he finished her braid. He raised an eyebrow. “Did I say something weird?”

                Emi shook her head as she sat up. “No, you didn’t say anything. It’s just that…” She couldn’t figure out the words.

                Jet tilted his head. “Just what?” He looked so concerned.

                “We haven’t talked about something in a very long time, if at all,” she began hurriedly, “but I wanted to say… It think… no; I _know_ that I’m in love with you.”

                Jet stared at her blankly for a moment. “You what?” he wondered. “I don’t understand…”

                Emi’s heart dropped. What had she expected? She knew he wouldn’t feel the same. “Never mind…” she mumbled.

                “Emi?” Jet tried to get her attention. She looked away. He sighed. “What changed?”

                She looked up at him. “When you were gone… when I thought you were gone for good so many times, I didn’t know what I was going to do,” she explained. “When you said ‘it was nice to know you’… that was when it started.” He was listening carefully, waiting to hear her out. “And then you… you wanted me to forget you, and.” She looked away again. “You tried to give me the necklace.”

                “I shouldn’t have done that,” Jet acknowledged. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you… but I did.” She looked back over at him. He looked sad.

                “I know I’m probably just a sister to you, even now,” she admitted with a shake of her head, “but I wanted to know.”

                “I don’t know how I feel,” he said. “You’ve always been everything to me, Emi; that hasn’t changed.” His eyes held only confusion; no anger, no sadness, even no joy. Just confusion.

                Emi studied him. She could tell he was being honest, and well, even if she didn’t know him so well it would have been obvious, but… he honestly didn’t know how to interpret whatever he was feeling. “You can forget I said anything…” she resigned.

                “Huh?” Jet stopped. “I’m not mad or anything!” he insisted. “I don’t know what to say, that’s all!” His eyes were refusing to settle on her face, moving nervously all around like they did so often when he was at a loss of what to do. “I mean, I’ve never thought about it.”

                “You’ve never even wondered?” she asked him.

                He shook his head. “I liked things the way they were… the way they are. Why would I ever want anything else?” he puzzled. “Besides; I knew all along I had to let you go. It didn’t matter what I felt! I couldn’t let anything I was feeling stop you from getting out of that illusion, and in the end, I tried to!” Jet sighed and grabbed her hand. “I couldn’t let you go. Even now, I should have gone away to make sure that illusion was truly gone, but I couldn’t… I didn’t want to lose you.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what any of it means, but I couldn’t leave you. In one way or another, I love you.”

                Emi smiled. “And that means a lot,” she assured. “I’m sorry if I’ve upset you.”

                “What? I said I’m not mad!” he insisted. “I  just… I don’t know…”

                “I love you, Jet; I didn’t realize before that I was _in_ love with you,” she said. “Now I do; I don’t know whether you feel the same or not. I can’t see your thoughts or feelings. I just… I had to ask.”

                Jet blew hair out of his face. “I’ll think about it,” he decided. He settled back on the couch. “In the meantime, do you want me to braid the rest of your hair or not?” Emi sighed and settled back in leaning on him. She was happy. Even after something that could have been so uncomfortable, they were back to normal with no hesitation, no anything. “An honest question, though,” Jet wondered.

                “Hmmm?” Emi asked.

                “Was it those people asking questions that brought this up?” he worried.

                She sighed. “Yes, to be honest. It was.” She smiled. “But it’s okay!”

                Jet shook his head. “Don’t let them get to you,” he said. He paused. “People out here are… loud. And they aren’t always the nicest. They’re nosy.”

                Emi sighed. “I guess they are; but it’s worth it, right?”

                “Of course!” Jet assured. “Of course it’s worth it! It’s just…” He looked down. “It’s so loud.”

                Emi studied him. “And you’re used to silence.”

                “I’m getting used to other people, don’t get me wrong,” he explained. “It’s not that I don’t like them. It’s just a lot to adjust to.”

                Emi nodded. “I know,” she said. “But we’ll make it through.”

                “Right!” Jet agreed. “Together.”

                “Together.”


	14. Chapter 14

Epilogue 2: Origin (Connects to “And Maybe Light Will Prevail”)

0o0o0

                Where he lay now, he didn’t know. He didn’t know where this place was; there was only grey. Was this where he had always belonged? No, not always… and when the grey faded into something he knew, he knew that he would be okay.

                The violet sky hung full of stars overhead, and the Land of Departure was seen by him once again. He looked around the familiar place. The sun had just set; he could see it from the lingering pink along the edge of the sky. Why was he here? And was he _really_ here? Was he there to save them all? Or…

                This place was empty. He was alone. What was he supposed to do now? Origin walked over to one of the small pools of water nearby. He looked down, not expecting a reflection… he hadn’t had one in more than a decade after all… but the face that looked back; it wasn’t’ that of a clone. It was a face long gone. He put his hands to it to confirm what he was seeing. Was he…? Was he the true Xehanort once more? Was he the man that he was before the monster took over everything he had ever cared about?

                Xehanort sighed and looked away from his reflection. That name… both names. Origin. Xehanort. Both were terrible, terrible names that did not belong to him anymore. Just who was he now? Was he Xehanort, the one he was before that name was stolen from him? Or was he Origin, the lie that had survived for so long following in the footfalls of the past? Origin… as Jet had said, the original. “Who am I?” he whispered into the distance looking for no answer.

                He headed away from the shallow pools and slowly ascended to the summit. It was a place so familiar to him… would it even be there? Was this an illusion, or was it something more? Was this a memory, as Origin had once been? It felt… it felt different; and it felt different from the illusion that Jet had created. This place… it felt like home. It felt like the land that was taken from him so many decades ago.

                He reached the summit, but he had a little further to go to reach where he wished. He looked at the face of the cliff expecting it to be empty… but it wasn’t. A dark-haired figure sat atop it… Eraqus, just like he always used to be. This place. The Cliffside. Why was he here now? And… He shook his head. HE turned around to leave. What was he thinking? If Eraqus were there, he couldn’t go to the cliff. No… he knew he’d never be forgiven, not Origin, not Xehanort… because he could never forgive himself.

                But he heard a sound behind him that sounded like someone landing on the ground. His heart began to race. “No…” he whispered. “He can’t have seen me…” He started walking hastily away down the familiar path away from the Cliffside.

                “Xehanort!” he heard the most comforting voice in the world call to him. Eraqus… Eraqus far younger than when ‘they’ had last seen each other, far younger than when that monster had taken his name and hurt him… Eraqus. His true love. The one whom he had left behind.

                Xehanort didn’t turn to face the voice. He kept walking, kept hoping that Eraqus wouldn’t run to catch him, and yet, when he heard the rushed footsteps stop, his heart broke.

                “Oh…” he heard Eraqus whisper. “It’s just my imagination again…” he resigned.

                Xehanort wanted to turn around and scream that it wasn’t. Before he knew it, he did turn around; he looked away. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly and refused to look up. “I’m so sorry…”

                “Eh?” Eraqus crossed the distance now. “Xehanort?” He sounded cautious. “It’s really you…?”

                Xehanort closed his eyes. “I’m sorry I gave in,” he finished his thought. “I promised you that I would never give in to the darkness, and then… I did.”

                He was pulled into a tight hug. “Xehanort!” Eraqus cheered. “It’s really you! I’m not hallucinating this time!”

                Xehanort’s eyes snapped open. This was really happening. “Hallucinating?” Xehanort wondered aloud. “What are you—“

                “So many times since I’ve been here I’ve imagined seeing you,” Eraqus explained as he pushed the surprised Xehanort away just far enough to look at his face. “Even here I’ve had dreams, but you’ve never actually come!” Xehanort stared into those grey eyes that he loved, loving the fact that he was actually seeing this unscarred face, that this was different from that illusion, but what was it? “I’ve waited for you for so long… You finally made it…” The smile on Eraqus’s face was the best thing that Xehanort had seen in a very, _very_ long time.

                Reluctant to look away, Xehanort looked around at the land surrounding them. “But this—what is this?” he asked in wonder. “This isn’t an illusion…”

                Eraqus frowned. “It’s the afterlife,” he said slowly. “Wait, you didn’t know?” He looked painfully concerned.

                Xehanort raised an eyebrow. “No… I can’t say that I did,” he said slowly. He shook his head. “I guess I’d never—“

                “Where have you been for so long?” Eraqus wondered. “I was waiting. I expected you to be here when I got here. I mean, I know that you weren’t the one in that body anymore…”

                “I was trapped,” Xehanort admitted. “I wasn’t in control anymore, and I had given in to the darkness, but—“

                “Your heart sill lingered,” Eraqus figured out. “It makes a little more sense now.” Still, he frowned.

                “I’m sorry—about everything, but you have no reason to forgive me,” Xehanort apologized. “I gave in; I let that monster hurt you and I let it hurt so many people that I became a monster too; I’m sorry that I—“

                Eraqus put a finger to his mouth. “I know,” he confirmed. “I know that you broke your promise; you went away. We were supposed to stay together forever,” Eraqus admitted. He was frowning, but he wasn’t angry. “And I’m upset about that, don’t get me wrong. But I know you. I knew that _you_ would never do those things. It was beyond your control. That’s why I believed and gave you a second chance when I knew it was unlikely you truly were back.”

                “Eraqus, I—“ Xehanort started to say once his mouth was uncovered, but he was interrupted by something else instead—a kiss. He didn’t know what else to do other than to close his shocked eyes and return the gesture, putting his hand behind Eraqus’s head to pull him closer. This was all so much. Did this mean that not only did Eraqus forgive him, but that Eraqus still _loved him?_ Why would he? How could he?

                Eraqus ended the kiss. “You’re never leaving my sight again,” he said sternly.

                Xehanort wasn’t sure how to respond, but he wasn’t about to say otherwise. “I never wanted to in the first place,” he concluded.

                “I was right then?” Eraqus asked. “It was that book that you brought back?”

                Xehanort nodded. “I should have listened to you,” he admitted. “I’m sorry that I was gone for so long…” He trailed off.

                “It’s okay,” Eraqus said quietly. “You’re here now.”

                “I…” he began, but he looked away. This was too much. This was too much to think about, too embarrassing, too—“I still love you,” he finally said.

                Eraqus grabbed his chin and made him look at him. He was smiling. “I love you too,” he said, and everything was right in Xehanort’s world for the first time in a very, very long time.


End file.
